Pulse
by lost-katana
Summary: After finding themselves 300 years into the future, our favorite turtles are quick to discover that life hasn't turned out so well for Earth. However, things are about to get worse, for here lurks an evil that may kill them all... about everyone
1. Waiting

Well… this may be one of the most… _interesting_ stories I'll ever write.

I'm actually at a crossroads here. You see, I've put this under the genres horror and action/adventure. I would have also liked to have added angst or sci-fi, but there was no room for that. So, if you think that I should change it, tell me. But please, don't do so until the fourth chapter, that way you can get a better feel for it.

So you know, Pulse isn't focused around any turtle in particular. Of course, being the Leo fan that I am, Leo's bound to suffer a little somewhere down the line… but so will everyone else.

Also, you might wanna know that this chapter takes place _after_ most of the story. I'll go over the rest in chapters 2-8. I plan for this to have a grand total of twelve chapters… but things happen.

Anyways, read on! Enjoy!

Beta read by Janajyo, who _promised _to review _every_ chapter…(hint, hint)

Disclaimer: What in the world gave you the idea that _I_ own the TMNT? Do you actually think they'd make _this_ a cartoon?

&&&&&

New York City. November 27, 2306 AD. 2:17 AM.

Blood; a scarlet ribbon adorning his chest, legs, arms, and fingertips; glistening in the soft, cerulean-white light that methodically beat overhead.

Drip, drip; it fell to the ground. His brothers' blood, _his_ blood. Raphael had always favored the color red, but this was too much for even his tastes.

Just from sight, you wouldn't be able to figure out what vital fluids belonged to whom. Heck, you probably couldn't even figure out who was hurt the worst. Raph knew his left leg was broken, crushed in some places. He also knew that there was a deep cut directly below his plastron too, though it had stopped bleeding a while back.

As for his brothers, he didn't- _couldn't_ see _all_ of their injuries. Thanks to horrid memories of the fight, as well as the light that would slowly flash above them, Raph could tell Mike had a broken arm from the odd angle it was hanging at. There were also various cuts to his forearms. But at least he was breathing, as Raph could hear.

On the other hand, with Leo, it was at times harder to tell. His breaths were irregular; he probably had a few busted ribs. Said brother had sustained a deep cut to his side where the flesh between plastron and shell was soft. Blood dribbled out of his mouth.

Raph could only pray it wasn't from his lungs. Like with Michelangelo, but even more so, he didn't know the full extent of Leonardo's injuries.

Don was his worst problem though. Since his purple-clad brother had been placed on the other side of Leo, he was out of Raph's range of sight. Sometimes, when the light flickered on, he could see Donny's head. Earlier, Raph had never been so happy just to see him move.

But, unlike the other two, he hadn't woke up yet. At least, Raph didn't think he had. He hoped Don was okay.

Since Raph's head was turned to the left, it was only inevitable that his eyes eventually found the wound in Leonardo's shoulder. Though, partly concealed by either dried or oozing blood, several large punctures could be made out. In the shape of a reflected 'U' starting at the top of his shoulder, near to his neck, it ended in the middle of his scapula. It was deeper than any of their other cuts. In some places, the skin had almost been torn off, the wound having actually reached bone.

A bite.

Raph had to look away. Not because the bite was so bizarre, which it was, but because it made his skin crawl. All four of them shared similar wounds, on various parts of their body. _It_ had gotten lucky with Leo that time, but most of his bites hadn't been so serious, though they all broke skin.

_It _wasn't here right now. It'd left him in the care of it's recruits, whom it called Ardors, these creatures that reached a height of about three feet… but with certain talents to make up for it. They had thick black hair that covered everything but their faces, like a monkey. Their eyes were an abnormal and frightening shade of green that gleamed in darkness or light.

Off somewhere else, the thing responsible for this was probably fixing it's wounds up. Raph shivered. With as much time that had gone by, he found it more likely that it was preparing for dinner.

_This_ was it's dining room. The room was dark, like most of the mansion. However, it was made of a thick wood, impossibly free of grain, painted silver. The floors were pieced by black tile. The ceiling was a tilted piece of darkened glass that gave you a good view of the room. Through it, you could see the Ardors sitting at the back of the wall before the turtles, eyes glinting maliciously.

But he couldn't use it to tell if Donny was well; just that he was in one piece. When the light flashed, he tried to check, but could only get glimpses of bite marks on his brother's arms.

Four tables sat in the middle of the room, each one occupied by a turtle. Raphael and his brothers were strapped down to these tables in five places; one strong band across the chest, one over each knee, and one over each elbow. Moving any of those joints was basically impossible.

It seemed like an odd dining room. The only tables were the ones they were lying on. No chairs, besides the one the Ardors were sitting on. And no eating utensils. That part was the scariest of all.

Their captor was one of the last living things on the planet now. How it'd gotten here, Raph wasn't sure. The human race was practically extinct; most, and nearly all of the animal life of Earth going along with them.

Earlier, they'd been told a tale of how this had come to be. But right now, Raph wasn't sure which parts of the story were truth or myth.

He had a lot of time to think. Normally, Raph would probably be trying to get out of here right now. Surely, he wouldn't be sitting as still as possible, in fear of the Ardors. But he wanted to be conscious. They _all_ needed to be conscious- _before_ it came back. They were going to get out of here together.

At least, that's what Raph told himself.

Learning from Mike and Leo's experience, Raph had come to understand what the Ardors' rules were. Your head, arms, back, and legs had to remain on the table. Any breach of these regulations would be met with the thing they called a Tric. It reminded Raph of a taser.

Both of his brothers were now out cold because of that thing. Mikey had lifted his head too high off the table, trying to see if he could get a glimpse of Don, tell if he was all right. The Tric went off in a blue blaze; scary to remember, not that Raph wanted to recall it. Leo made the same mistake when he woke nearly half an hour later; only he was trying to see if _it_ was in the room, posing a threat.

They'd been out for a good hour now.

However, if you could find an upside to this, there _were_ a few things they didn't care if you did. You were allowed to move your head, as long as you didn't lift it. You could also move anything from elbow to fingers. But after that, there wasn't much freedom.

Still, it was a good thing.

Raph had to force himself to look at Leo again, just to make sure he was breathing. The blue light was taking too long to shine. Stretching his arm out just long enough to grab his brother's wrist, which was hanging limply over one side of the table, Raph took his pulse.

It was slow, but strong. And, scarily enough, in tune with the light that came on again at its normal pace. He counted four beats per flash of light.

Back to his right, Raph heard Mikey mumbling. Without letting go of Leo's wrist, he turned to see his brother waking up. Half opening his eyes, he looked around; up at the mirrored ceiling.

"Don't lift your head." Raph warned him in a whisper. For a reason he couldn't figure out, their captor didn't care if you spoke. Still, he was sure to keep his voice low, so the Ardors wouldn't hear.

Mike turned his head to Raph. "Is that why they did that to me?" He asked, just as quietly.

Nodding, Raph explained to him the rules he'd been able to figure out. "I need ya conscious, bro."

He didn't have to tell him why. After wrinkling his brow, Mikey's eyes showed understanding. A few seconds passed without them saying anything. Then the orange-clad ninja inquired, "How's Don and Leo?"

"Don't know. Leo's alive, for now. He woke up a little after you, but got the same treatment." He paused. "He wasn't doin' too good then… But when he was up, he told me Don was okay. I don't know about now though."

No more words. Neither of them wanted to discuss the possibility of death, be it for family or themselves.

Raph looked at him seriously. "It'll be okay." He promised, though not sure if he could keep it.

And they waited for their brothers to wake. Waited for a plan to form, an escape to make itself known. They waited in fear for _it_ to return.

And all the while, Raph never let go of Leo, making sure he was still with them, in body, if not mind. Like before, each beat was in tune with the light above. Steady; regular. Chasing the darkness away.

Pulse.

&&&&&

(rubs hands excitedly) That wasn't too horrible, was it? Wait, of course it was. This _is_ a horror story, after all!

Sorry if it was confusing; can't give _everything_ away. You'll find out soon, though. _It_ shall also be revealed sometime. Originally, I had the name down, but I didn't want to ruin it.

Now, here's the special treat of this story. No waiting! Not much, anyway. I promise to have one new chapter up every ten days, with the hopes that I'm able to find a computer and the said device cooperates the day I choose to upload a new chapter. I give ten days for people to review, than I update.

Therefore, it's very important that you leave your opinion early on. And I'm dying to know if you liked it! Please tell me! Review! Don't flame, though. Please.


	2. Swish

Another chapter, as promised and scheduled!

Remember, from here to Chapter 9, it's all stuff in the past, leading up to the event in the first chapter.

I hope you enjoy!

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: If they ever have a lottery prize of winning ownership of the TMNT, I might just become a gambler. But 'til then, I still don't own 'em.

&&&&&

New York City. November 25, 2006 AD. 7:48 PM. 

_Swish_.

Like background music to the news program, Leonardo's swords cut through the air in the dojo. You could compare them to the sound a refrigerator made; you hardly noticed it, but were subconsciously aware of it.

With nothing else better to do, Raphael sat on the couch, watching the news with Donny while Michelangelo read some comic books on the floor by Splinter's armchair. The younger turtle was pouting, overruled in control of the almighty and powerful remote.

Having just sat down, Don waited for his part of the news program to come on. That's how Raph knew when they were going to do their science piece of the day.

It was also his cue to leave.

With a sigh, he decided to drag it out a little bit. Raph didn't know what was worse: listening to some of the odd words that a few of these scientists said or having to train on a Saturday, which was surely what Leo would make him do once he got up.

Decisions, decisions.

_Swish._

At the moment, the newscaster, an attractive blonde woman with blue eyes, was doing a piece on some new mansion they were building for some celebrity. The 'house', when finished sometime next year, would have fourteen bedrooms, excluding the _master_ bedroom, and nine full bathrooms. There would also be several entertainment _and_ living rooms furnished with state of the art technology, accommodating the super-star's larger than life existence and already enormous ego.

That last part hadn't been in the news bit. But Raph thought it fit.

Somewhat peeved, he got up. "Don't these friggin' celebrities have anything better to do with their money?"

Don too looked disgusted, but, unlike Raph, he tried to see the good side of things. "If I recall, that guy _does_ have several charities."

Raph snorted. "Who wants to bet that they're only gettin' that much _between _them?" He asked, referring to the price tag of the mansion.

_Swish._

Still focused on the kata he was performing, Leo spoke to them from the dojo. "I'll bet it's less."

Shrugging, Raph got up and walked to the kitchen, leaving Donny to his science bit. Upon reaching the said destination, he noticed Master Splinter sitting at the table, sipping on some herbal tea and reading an old, worn leather-bound book. Apparently having left the room, Mikey was making a colossal sandwich that would probably have more effect on his death than any Big Mac could dream.

But also like the effect any Big Mac had on so many of its soon to be consumers, it looked mouth-watering and delicious.

"Yo, Mike," Raph called, walking over to him, "cut me off a piece?"

Seemingly debating the question, Mike folded his arms. "Hmm… only if you give me the rights to the remote!"

Raph shook his head. "No way." He smirked. "What? You're pullin' a Jacob and Esau on me?"

"Dude, isn't _Leo_ the oldest?"

"Whatever." Sighing, Raph grabbed a plate. "All right." He agreed, though he had no intentions of keeping this arrangement.

From the look on Michelangelo's face, the turtle knew that his brother understood this. Nevertheless, he cut him off a quarter of the sandwich.

Splinter's mug hit the table softly, but drew their attention. Their father had put his book down as well, and looked at them with his hands folded. "When you are done, my sons, I believe it would be wise to journey to Ms. O'Neil's shop."

Taking in a big whiff of his snack, Mikey raised his head. "What for?"

Having had silently made his way into the kitchen, Raph barely noticed Leo had entered until he spoke. "She's getting that replacement cabinet for her antique china in today, remember? We promised we'd help her move it months ago."

Suddenly embarrassed, Mikey chuckled uncomfortably. "Oh yeah, how could I forget?"

"Yeah," Raph quipped, "since you're the guy who knocked the first one over."

Leo didn't add anything, though he was grinning in the corner, an expression only he could make seem serious. "We'll go after Donny's finished watching the news, Sensei."

Splinter nodded his approval. "Very well, Leonardo. I trust you will return home immediately after doing so?" He asked, though he was looking at his younger two sons. "I would rather not have to wait up, worried you are injured, only to find that the four of you were making a pizza run."

"Hey," Raph defended himself; "we weren't the only ones who were hungry, Master Splinter. Heck, we probably would have made it home in time if _Leonardo_ here hadn't insisted we get pepperoni."

Though he'd been expecting it, Leo surprised Raph by _not_ responding to him. "We'll come right back, Sensei. I promise."

&&&&&

As they made their way to April's apartment, they debated whether or not they'd have time to make an _ice cream_ run.

Mikey did a flip onto a dumpster. "Man, am I craving some mint chocolate chip!"

Though it was tempting, Leo decided to put an end to the discussion. "As much as I'd like a milkshake guys, we promised Master Splinter we'd be home _on time_ tonight."

Raph elbowed him. "C'mon, bro. Live a little, will ya?"

Sighing, Leo made his way to the backdoor of April's apartment. "Well… maybe." He finally gave in. "But _only_ if we finish early."

His brothers just grinned before walking into the store, Leo following them.

He desperately hated how so often he could be talked into things. He was supposed to be the _leader_; that job came with responsibility. Sometimes, Leo felt he wasn't living up to his role as well as he should be in minor things like these.

Even if he somehow did well enough in a _real_ crisis, those little things added up.

In her shop, April was examining her new cabinet. Turning, she smiled. "Hi, guys. What do you think?" She asked, referring to her new item.

Don walked up to it and ran his hand over the wood. "Nice. Oak, right?"

"Right. The cherry stain is beautiful, isn't it?"

It _was_ a nice piece. The deep, cherry hue seemed to gleam to a greater degree than its glass panels. Leo couldn't help but notice that none of the china had yet to be put within, though.

April saw his look and raised one eyebrow. "I am _not_ about to risk Mikey breaking _another_ one of my more expensive sets of dishes."

Mikey clasped his hands together, begging forgiveness. "C'mon, April! It was an accident! Anyone could've slipped on _that_ big of a jelly mess."

Ever the voice of logic, Don had to put in, "Yeah, but Mikey, most people usually don't _eat_ the jelly donut that _made_ the mess, when they're moving such a big piece of furniture."

"Still," Mikey said, pointing his finger at Donatello; "it _could've_ happened."

Moving to one end of the cabinet, Raph frowned. "Hey, can we just do this already, or are we gonna sit around here all day and have a tea party?"

Leo went to the opposite side, calling back to his brothers. "Yeah, at the rate you two are going, _nobody_ will be getting ice cream tonight."

They got right to work.

After many 'Maybe it'd look better over here's and 'But the lighting's better over there's, they finally got the cabinet into a good place; at the back of a wall, in between two lovely, green plants. April thought it made the cabinet look more exotic, though she wasn't sure where it had been made.

"Thanks again for helping me, guys. Are you sure you don't want to stay for a movie?" April asked them.

"No," Leo shook his head, smiling; "we promised Master Splinter we'd come right home."

April held a hand up to her mouth, concealing her broad smile. "Still in trouble for the pizza, huh?"

Leo grinned sheepishly. "Yeah…"

Raph was also grinning, folding his arms over his chest. "I told ya we didn't need that damn pepperoni."

Slinging one arm over his brother's shoulder, Mikey also grinned. "Hey! Everyone gots to have some pepperoni, right bro?"

"Right." He immediately changed the subject. "But now we _really_ need to go."

Waving, April smiled. "Okay, bye guys. Stay out of trouble!"

Opening the door, Don waved back. "See ya, April!"

They all muttered their good-byes before leaving. The minute they were out, Mikey yelled, "Ice cream!"

All three of his brothers took off in the direction of the nearest _Baskin Robbins_.

With a deep sigh, Leo followed, giving into his brothers once again.

&&&&&

Two blocks from getting his ice cream and five seconds from hitting Mikey in the head out of annoyance, if only to shut him up, Raph had to do a double take, slowly coming back to the alley he'd just passed.

Floating in the air, just below eye level, was a… Raph couldn't put a name on it. The thing twisted and turned like an earthworm, defying gravity. It looked almost electric, shining like a lightning bolt, yet smaller. And instead of being yellow or white, as any person viewed electricity, it was a deep shade of red.

Donatello, apparently having followed him, looked at it with the eyes of the scientist in him. Mikey, having also turned back, looked over the purple-clad turtle's shoulder to see it.

"Dude, did someone get carried away with the special effects for the next _Star Trek_ movie?" His younger brother asked.

Shaking his head, Donny got a little closer to it. "I don't think so, Mikey." He circled the floating manifestation. "Odd. It seems electric, but there's nothing here to conduct it." He looked all around the alleyway before turning back to the puzzle before him. "Nothing at all."

Tearing his eyes away from the spectacle at hand, Raph noticed that Leo too had come into the alley, probably about to give them a lecture about getting home, or something. But for now, he also seemed interested in this… thing.

Leo looked at it like it was a threat. For all they knew, it could very well be one. But the _way_ he did it was almost eerie, not to mention irritating. Then he spoke. "It's getting bigger."

Not having quite suspected those words, Raph turned back. Sure enough, it had grown some. Don blinked in surprise. He'd been watching it for so long that he hadn't quite noticed its gradual increase in size.

Now with more viewing room, Mikey unconsciously put a hand to his nunchucks. "I'm getting a _real _bad vibe off this thing, guys."

Raph couldn't exactly recall a time when he'd ever gotten such a feeling off something that wasn't _alive_.

Evidently, Don followed the same line of thought. "I don't think it's alive, Mikey." He put one hand to his chin. "Then again, that's just a theory."

That did a lot to soothe Mike's worries.

"Can we just go now? Please?" Mikey practically begged.

Stepping a little closer, Leo shook his head. "Not yet, Mikey. We can't go until we figure out if this thing poses a threat to anyone or not."

Mikey looked uncomfortable at this statement. Raph snickered. "What's the matter, bro? The Battle Nexus Champion's scared of a stupid little light?"

Folded his arms over his chest, Mikey quickly stuck his tongue out at him. "I haven't bolted yet, have I? You'd be halfway to China now if that thing was only a firefly."

Half-tempted to go and pound on him that very moment, the only thing that held Raph back was the realization of how close they were all to it. He hadn't noticed before, but this thing radiated a dull light, not even brighter than a nightlight. Yet it coated him and his brothers in a dull red.

Almost like blood.

Donny drew his bo staff. "Well, there's one way to see if this thing is even electric or not." Gingerly, placing his hand as far away from the worm-like thing, he touched it with his staff.

Immediately, the red peeled off of it, instead turning into a light blue. The new shade of light also touched them.

Then it expanded. Now it wasn't just touching them, it was enveloping them.

That was when everything he knew of the world around him, the sights, the sounds, the _feeling_ of New York; that was when it all practically ceased to exist.

But only for a second. In the next, his ears popped loudly, followed by the sound of the air around him being cut to ribbons, coming closer and closer. It reminded him of Leo practicing with his katanas, only louder.

_Swish_.

&&&&&

(laughs) All seems well now. Maybe not to you, but the true horror has yet to begin. Of course, you probably have already figured this out. I mean, if _this_ was as scary as it got, I'd have a pretty lame horror story, wouldn't I?

The next few chapters should prove to be much longer. Actually, I can guarantee this. How? Maybe I'll tell you later. I don't want everyone pressuring me in the reviews.

Speaking of which, please do that! It'll make me a happy camper!


	3. The Future is Bleak

Super Pi90katana has returned! Hmm… that's a bit of a mouthful. Oh well. As much as I love it, I'm not cut out for the superhero business. No special abilities, and I don't know any form of martial arts other than tickle torture.

I'm a good writer though! At least, I think I am… Hard to tell. While it _should_ be, TMNT fiction isn't the most widely known and preferred genre.

Well, I suppose I should get cracking on this chapter. Hope you like!

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: I'd _tell_ you that I owned the TMNT just for your reaction, but I fear the lawsuit that would inevitably follow.

&&&&&

**New York City. November 25, 2306 AD. 8:57 PM.**

Rubbing the sides of his head, Mikey grimaced at the ringing in his ears. Thankfully, as the blue light began to fade away, so did the noise. It was only then that the orange-clad turtle took notice of what was around him.

Besides the presence of his brothers, nothing seemed right. The alley they'd been in was littered with rusty metal bars and rotted planks of wood. While New York could at times seem dirty, it had never been quite this filthy.

His brothers seemed to be thinking about this too. Raph turned away from them to look out into the street. It was also littered with debris, as well as the remains of cars; some parked at odd angles at the curb, others simply in the street. All looked like junkyard material, old, seriously used, and weatherworn.

"What'd we miss?" Raph asked in a low voice. The world seemed so dead quiet that it seemed to echo.

Stepping out of the alley partially, they took a look around. Mike frowned. "What the shell happened?"

Don put his hand on the corner of one of the nearby buildings. It was crumbly; part of the outer layer just fell apart in his hands. "I have no idea, Mikey."

Suddenly, a loud, screeching sound began, originating from each of their Shell Cells. The electronic gibberish hurt Mikey's ears; he grabbed his cell and tried to find a button to make it stop, while Don did the same, although with a bit more knowledge of the situation. Raph, also annoyed, instead chose to crush his.

Though Mike could never dispute his purple-clad brother's intelligence, he had to admit, sometimes, Raph's way of doing things was much more simple.

Glaring at the turtle in red, Don was about to go back to his own Shell Cell when it completely died out, as did his and Leo's. Frown deepening, he messed around with it for a few more seconds before giving up. "So much for the Shell Cells. The batteries are drained." Holding the gadget and his weapon in one hand, he put the other to his chin. "Strange…"

With his back to them, Leo scanned the alleyway, placing his useless cell back in his belt. They too turned back when he spoke. "Where'd that light go? Do you think it had anything to do with this?" he asked, gesturing to the peculiar world around them.

Bo staff still in his hands, Donny stared at it for a moment before putting it and the Shell Cell away. "It's possible. Right now, we don't have any information to rule that prospect out." He paused. "Then again, we don't have any information at _all_."

Fingering his sais for a moment, Raph stuck his arms at his sides. "So let's try and figure out what's goin' on here."

Out of the alleyway, into the street. Mikey took in every thing around him; it was all different. Seconds before, it'd been a beautiful night. The stars were shining brightly; only a slight chill of the November wind was evident.

Now, there were no stars at all. The air was clear of any smells or temperature changes, but the sky was a dark and smoky gray. Everything on Earth looked as if it had been painted over in sepia. The flower shop across the street was dark, the windows broken. Crossing over to it, Mikey could only see the remnants of two or three bouquets. The stems were withered, blackened like char, as were the petals.

More fragile than they had ever been in their beauty, they dilapidated at his touch as the building had when Donny had handled it.

He turned to find Leo behind him. "Something's not right here." He said to himself, staring down at the dead plant in his younger brother's palm.

They went on a little longer, speed gaining as they continued. So far, they hadn't seen another sign of life at all, no bugs, rats, or even a stray pet.

At one point, they passed Second Time Around. Only April's antique shop wasn't there. In its place was a small clothing store. Most of the items littered the floor, moth-eaten.

The styles were unfamiliar to him.

He watched as Donatello continued to look at the store. He could almost see the wheels turning in the purple-banded turtle's head.

As they went on further, the buildings themselves seemed to have gradually corroded away. Eventually, the landscape was essentially bare. Only small brickwork and chunks of sidewalk marked where the structures had been. Other debris still cluttered the area.

Just as Mikey was thinking of how much he'd give to see just _one_ living thing here, they noticed that one place still remained, far in the distance. The fact that it could be made out told Mikey it was rather big. It looked like a house. Perhaps it was a mansion, though Mike couldn't remember seeing a mansion so close by in New York City.

The place was, like everything else, darkened, but it looked to be in good condition; better than anything else here. But it gave off an eerie feeling.

Mikey gulped. "Dude, I _so_ don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

&&&&&

By the time they were five minutes from the building, Don had recognized it. The news program from earlier still fresh in his mind, the purple-clad turtle compared the sketch of the mansion they were building for the celebrity to the construction before them. Besides a few very minor details, they were a perfect match.

Ever since he and his brothers had passed the location where April's shop had once been, Donny had been considering the possibility of time-travel. The experience wasn't, after all, anything new to the young ninjas.

It was still exciting, however. Though the dismal appearance of the world around him dampened that feeling, it hadn't quite yet reached Don's curiosity.

Time-travel was also certainly a lot better than his other idea, one he didn't like as much. Alternate universes. Between the four of them, Don and his brothers had journeyed to many such worlds. Much so, Donny preferred the dimension ruled by giant insects than the one he'd endured alone, for as short of a time as it may have been, when he and his family had been separated across time and space by Ultimate Draco.

That experience had left its share of emotional scars. Most of the time, like humans did with clothing, Don hid his own wounds in his inventions, in the joy of being with his family.

It usually worked quite well. Often, he forgot the scars were even there. But then there were times when the wounds itched and acted up; then he would remember…

Therefore, time-travel was more eagerly accepted, even if the alternate universe he'd traveled to had also been set in the future. He had less bad memories of time-travel than he had of other dimensions.

But that could change any time now.

Donny was pulled out of his thoughts by their arrival at the mansion. Avoiding the front entrance, they headed to the right, behind some near dead bushes, and bordered a window placed there, two to one side.

Leo, along with Raph, were keeping an eye out. Don honestly didn't think it was necessary, this entire place seemed desolated. But hey, with their experience, they'd long ago learned things weren't always as they seemed.

"Mikey," the blue-banded turtle asked, "do you see anything in there?"

The orange-clad turtle peered in for a long while. "Dude," he finally said, "it's pitch black."

Obviously following Don's earlier line of thought, but dismissing the latter part, much to Leo's disappointment, Raph moved to the front of the window, pushing Mikey aside a little. "Lemme take a look." After several moments, he too gave up. "I think they followed the example of whoever used to run Mike's brain. Everything's cleared out."

Mikey probably would've done more than stick his tongue out at this comment if Don hadn't reminded him of the need to be quiet, at least for now.

Still keeping watch, Leo frowned. "It's a mansion. Who says they're using _every_ room?"

Agreeing with his brother, Donny nodded. "A lot of people with big places like these have tons of room, but little people. A lot of space goes unused."

Mike brightened at that. "So… you're sayin' someone might still live here?"

Immediately, Don knew he'd made a mistake. Mikey was a hopeful being, one that needed to be surrounded by life. This place was obviously getting to him. As a ninja, Mike undoubtedly knew of death and how to handle it, but that had never stopped him from placing a _much_ higher value on life.

Before they knew it, their younger brother had made his way to the front entrance. Leo set off after him, calling him back, but Mike just grinned and knocked.

"Michelangelo…" Leo hissed warningly.

When he didn't get a response from the knock, Don noticed the immediate change of mood in his brother. His posture slumped a little in disappointment. With quite a bit less enthusiasm, Mike carefully tried the doorknob.

It wasn't locked.

Leaving the front door open, the turtle slowly entered the darkened home. After a sigh, Leo cursed him under his breath before following. Don noticed how his eldest brother also made sure not to separate himself to far from him and Raph.

Said brother too began to enter. Before he got too far away, however, Don grabbed him by the shoulder. He examined the building before speaking. It just looked so… eerie, for lack of a better word.

As big of a horror movie fan Mike was, Donny was surprised that he hadn't felt this as well. Then again, his little brother's optimism got the better hold of him often.

Looking back down at Raph, Don didn't release his grip. "I don't know if we should be going in there. I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

Nodding, Raph put his hand over Don's, removing it from his shoulder. "Me too."

&&&&&

After they found out what was going on, Leo swore that he was going to personally kick Mike's shell all the way to New Jersey.

This house gave him the creeps. Not far from the entrance they'd come through was a furnished parlor, unlit. It didn't look like it had been used in years. While his youngest brother examined the strange looking furniture, Leo walked over to the fireplace, rubbing one green finger over the wooden mantle above it.

The layer of dust was one or two centimeters thick.

Turning back around, Leo looked at his brother. Mikey's face was uneasy. The orange-clad turtle smiled shakily at him. "Personally, I'd fire the cleaning ladies." He tried to joke.

Knowing how he felt, he gave him a stern look. "We shouldn't be in here, Mikey."

"But what if someone's alive? Don't you wanna know what's going on here?"

Sighing, Leo grit his teeth. "We can't-"

He was interrupted by his red-clad brother. "What the shell is this?"

Mikey walked out of the parlor to see what was happening. Reluctantly, Leo followed, shaking his head.

Donny and Raph had gone just a little past the parlor and into a hallway. At the end of it, behind a door partly closed, a soft blue light was flashing, one beat every ten seconds.

The four of them hesitated, unsure of whether to move. Mikey fidgeted, but no one moved back out of the house.

They were curious.

Recalling that curiosity killed the cat, Leo nevertheless knew that, despite better judgment, they weren't going to leave until they had some answers. Taking in a deep and silent breath, he moved ahead of his brothers and down the hallway. He heard Raph follow him, Mike and Donny too soon after.

Pausing by the doorframe, Leo cautiously pushed the door all the way in.

It revealed an empty room with wood floors. Leo looked around, searching for the blue light's source. He couldn't find one.

Instinct was telling him to get the hell out _now_. However, where were they going to go? The world here was a desolate waste. There was no place to stay, no one to explain what was happening.

They knew nothing. Leo _hated_ knowing nothing. It left him hesitant, unprepared for an enemy that might know it all.

&&&&&

At the moment, Raphael felt he was living in a page ripped out of the beginning of a lame science-fiction novel. So far, they had searched six or seven rooms of the mansion and had located only miniscule signs of life.

Still, they were enough to send questioning shivers down his spine, especially with the mysterious light that pulsed on and off in the background.

The deeper into the house they came, the more _utilized_ the rooms appeared. Right now, they were in what was probably one of several luxurious bathrooms. Besides a crack in a cloudy mirror, nothing was out of place. There were only the slightest traces of dust.

But the place reeked of an abominable, and somewhat familiar, smell. Not a normal bathroom odor though. It was something else…

Leaving the bathroom, his brothers also having detected the horrible smell, they eventually came into contact with a swinging door. Carefully pushing it open, Donatello checked out what was on the other side before approving it clear and they all went in.

This room was a kitchen, with yet another door in the back of it, to the right. The wallpaper, decorated with various fruits, was a little dingy; in some places, it was torn, looking like it had been clawed by a large cat.

For some reason, Donny went into the tall, metal refrigerator to their left. Opening it, he began rummaging around in what little contents were in it.

"What are ya doin'?" Raph asked him, standing by Mikey, who was fingering a package of potato chips that Don had placed on the nearby counter. The weirdest thing wasn't that someone had refrigerated the- he'd never seen the brand name the chips were labeled with.

Putting the only other few items back in the fridge, Don stood up, shaking his head to himself. "I was trying to find something with an expiration date. I'm starting to think that we aren't in our own time period anymore."

Leo nodded, before pointing to Mikey. "Why don't you check the chips?"

Blinking, Mikey looked at the little bag in his hands. "For what?" he asked, confused.

Eyes lighting up as he understood, Don snatched the potato chips. "Copyright. There should be a copyright date on here somewhere…" He trailed off, searching for the date.

The purple-clad turtle tapped the bag. "Here it is-" he paused, "Wow."

"What?" Raph asked.

Don shook his head again. "We've certainly come a long way." He handed the bag to Raph.

Taking it questioningly, the temperamental turtle read aloud what he saw in disbelief. "Twenty-one eighty-five?"

Suddenly, the other door ahead of them opened. Immediately moving into a defensive position, Raph at first didn't think they were going to be able to handle what stood before them, the whitish-blue light that he'd almost forgotten made it look like a ghost.

But when the light flashed off again, he realized what stood before them was living, even if it looked like it could croak at any minute. It was an old man; his age seemed to be beyond his nineties.

The old man had lime green eyes and stringy white hair on the sides of his head that ran down just below his ear lobes. His bony figure reminded Raph of the man who owned the insane asylum in Disney's animated _Beauty and the Beast_. The man wore a black suit that looked a size to big, the jacket unbuttoned, revealing a cream-colored shirt.

From the door, he studied them, strangely not seeming surprised by their appearance. "Who're you?" He finally asked in a hesitant voice. His language skills sounded poor. He narrowed his eyes. "Why haf you invaded my home?"

To his left, his swords drawn, Raph watched Leo carefully. The leader bit his lip, finally lowering his katanas, if only the tiniest bit. The rest of them had relaxed only moments before him. Honestly, Raph doubted that this man here had the strength to kill a spider.

Leo looked at him carefully. "I'm sorry, sir. We were just trying to find some answers. My brothers and I don't mean you any harm."

Nodding, the man opened the door another fraction of an inch. "Ans'ers to what?"

Don thought about it. "How we got here, where we are, - _when_. So far, I think the only thing we know is that this place isn't our time period."

Putting one nunchuck away, Mikey tilted his head a little, examining the city that could be seen through a dusty window. "Dude, what happened here?"

Frowning, the man wrinkled his brow. "Ya don't know?" They shook their heads. "Then you mus' be from a dif'ren' time period entir'ly."

Leo raised an eye ridge. "Excuse me, but you don't seem to be shocked by our appearance-"

He waved a long, bony hand. "No, no. Belief me, I've seen stranger t'ings." He paused. "You don't seem like the en'my. Come, follow me." He beckoned with his hand, disappearing behind the door.

The four turtles exchanged glances. Leo looked at them firmly. Raph could tell he didn't want to stay. Before he could say something however, Mikey spoke. "He seems nice enough."

Raph snorted. "What the heck's wrong with his voice?"

Mikey laughed. "It's barely different than yours!"

Before Raph could pulverize him, Don raised a hand to his chin. "Language drift." He answered. "It's like comparing how people spoke back in the seventeen hundreds to our time. As it moves on, it eliminates certain letters and pronunciations. Our slang might seem like proper English to him."

Sighing, Leo sheathed one of his katanas. "Which probably means we've gone a lot farther than we thought."

Raph folded his arms over his chest. "I say we go in, get some answers."

Jaw clenched, Leo turned to him. "I don't think-"

"Ah, take a chill pill, Leo." Raph interrupted him. "How much damage do ya think he can possibly do?"

"A bullet's small, Raph," Donny pointed out, "but it's been known to kill people."

Raph had to admit, he had him there. Nevertheless, after only a few more seconds of discussion, they went in.

The room beyond the door turned out to be a living room. There were three armchairs, one being occupied by the old man, and a small couch. "I tho't maybe you'd lef'."

Shaking his head, Mikey took a seat on the dark purple sofa while Raph took one of the other chairs, the one farthest from the man. Donny and Leo chose to stand.

Glancing up at the ceiling, Raph tried to find where that stupid light was coming from again. No such luck, once again.

Placing his hands on his legs, the man spoke. "Sorry, it's been a while since I've ent'rtained." He nodded. "My name's Nigel Callis."

The four introduced themselves. Raph flexed his fingers impatiently. "So? Are ya gonna tell us what happened or not?"

"Yeah, of course." Callis said tiredly. "But not tonigh'; it's late. Will ya stay?" He asked. "I haf many extra bedrooms."

Not really liking this, Raph stood up. "Late? What time is it?"

Callis glanced at a small clock sitting on a table by his side. "Nea'ly ten th'rty."

_He calls that late?_ But then, Raph remembered that older people ran on a different time schedule than teenagers.

Mikey smiled. "Um, well, that sounds cool with me-"

"Mikey!" Leo interrupted sternly.

"What?" the youngest brother asked.

"I don't think that's such a-"

Callis stood. "No trouble at all. Stay!" He said pleasantly. Before another answer could be given, Callis raised his hand over his chest. "Oh, 'scuse my manners. Would ya like somethin' to drink?" Slowly, he walked over to the swinging kitchen door. "Long ago, I had many s'rvan's, but then, well…" He trailed off. "I f'tch Ella for ya."

Leaving the room, the man disappeared, calling for his servant behind the walls. Leo looked like he was about to say something when they heard a faint barking sound, or at least Raph thought he had. It'd been so soft, it was hard to tell.

But he didn't seem to be the only one to have heard it. Mikey cocked his head before looking at his brothers. "Was that a dog?"

They shrugged, then, the door opened once more. In came Callis, smiling and walking slowly back to his chair, followed by a woman who looked to be in her forties. Her long, salt and pepper hair was tied in a ponytail. Standing at about five and a half feet, she was very thin, not as much as Callis, but nearly so. Her skin showed that she had not seen the sun in a while; it was a gray porcelain, with just the smallest number of wrinkles.

Yet her eyes were bright; they seemed to contradict everything else that her appearance had already spoken. Strangely enough, they were the same shade of green as her master's.

Lips tight, Ella didn't smile as she brought a tray of beverages over to them, along with four, tinted brown glass cups. She walked over to Leo first, bowing her head as a greeting before gracefully indicating the drinks with her free hand like one of the prize models off of _The Price is Right_. "We haf wat'r, milk, and," she pointed to a glass pitcher, "this is the last of our s'das. Wh't would ya like?"

Calmly, Leo shook his head. "No thanks. I'm not all that thirsty."

Bowing once more, she moved on, speaking to everyone else in that strange tongue that Nigel Callis spoke in. At least it wasn't so bad that they couldn't understand. Not to quick to trust everything that was going on here, Raph waited until Callis had chosen his beverage before choosing the same one. He figured that he wouldn't poison himself just to get rid of them, if he were an enemy.

Mikey and Donatello did as Raph, probably thinking the same thing. Callis downed his little drink in less than a minute before yawning. Taking his cup, Ella bowed once more before leaving the room.

Brushing some dust off his pants, Callis stood. "So, have ya d'cided?" he looked sad once more. "I'm sorry to tell ya, but this 's the l'st f'ncti'nal place in New York."

The four of them exchanged glances once more. From what they had seen back outside, this was so far true.

Though they tried to change the subject a few times, using everything from the odd sky to introductions, they were eventually talked into staying.

&&&&&

One of Callis' other two servants, a man he called Carl, led them to their room. Despite the fact that they'd been persuaded to stay the night, they, Mikey in particular, had insisted that they at least share the same room.

Donny had to smile at that. Perhaps he'd been wrong in thinking that his little brother had forgotten one of the many rules of conduct when you found yourself in what could easily turn out to be a haunted mansion.

Carl, a tall man in a pressed black suit with a buzz cut and heavy eyelids, stopped at a door and opened it. "Your room." He said, smoothly gesturing to it with his left arm. "Mast'r Callis hopes ya will enjoy your stay." Bowing deeply, Carl walked away.

They watched him go before entering their quarters. The room was a shade of plum, with four beds sitting side by side, arranged motel style, with a little table and two stools in one corner and an adjoining bathroom to the right, though it did _not _smell pretty. There was even a TV, though, to Mikey's immense disappointment, it no longer worked.

Raph stood by a window. "I think maybe that Callis guy's clock was off." He pointed to the sky, which was still the same smoky gray as it was when they'd been out there. It looked like a typical rainy day.

Only without a single cloud or rain drop.

Walking over to the window, checking out the sky over Raph's shoulder, Don shrugged. A lot's happened since our time, obviously. Something might have caused a change in atmosphere."

"Whatever." Raph said, walking over to the nearest bed, the last one on the left. Leo, who had already claimed his, was sitting on the bed nearest the door, which was the last one on the right. He watched the door carefully.

Seeing that Mikey had picked the bed by Raph, flopping on it with a childlike glee, Don chose the last remaining bed. "Should one of us stay awake? You know, just in case?" He asked.

Leo nodded. "Yeah. But let's do it in shifts. I don't want anyone to be exhausted tomorrow."

A snore erupted from Mikey's bed. It was pretty obvious to tell he was just faking it, but Leo just rolled his eyes. "That's okay." He said. "Let him go to sleep. He can just start his watch at three."

Immediately sitting up, Mikey stuck out his tongue. "That's _so_ not fair, bro. You know I hate waking up early."

Raph laughed. "It's plenty fair!"

"Oh yeah?" Mikey said. "Well then I guess you won't mind if I get you up at five!"

Never having been a morning person, Raph obviously didn't like this. "You better not-"

Leo interrupted them. "That actually sounds good." He saluted him with a smile. "Night, Raph."

Growling, Raph flopped down on the pillow. Don turned to Leo. "I can take the first watch."

Turning to the door once more, Leo eventually nodded. "Okay. Wake me at one, all right?"

"Sure." Don said. "Night, bro."

"Night." Leo mumbled, settling down onto his bed.

Bringing his knees up to his plastron, Donatello sat up on his own bed, eyes on the door, ears aware of everything in the room, and what he could hear beyond. Within ten minutes, they had picked up the loud snores of Michelangelo, real this time, followed by the deafening ones of Raphael about five minutes after that. Leo, the _one_ light sleeper of the four, lay in silence until he finally fell asleep half way into Donny's shift.

The purple-clad turtle considered letting him sleep a little longer, knowing that Leo would insist on taking a full two hour watch anyways, and eventually decided to do so. A good night's rest served Leo well, as much as it tried to elude him.

Honestly, Don didn't know what they'd do if Raphael had as bad of a problem sleeping.

Waiting until one thirty, Donny turned to his left, swinging his legs off the bed, and leaned over to wake Leo.

That was when he saw something in the corner. Though his eyes had by now adjusted, the crooks of the walls in this room were pitch black. It made the pair of eyes that floated only inches above the floor glow with such intensity, it made the blood in Don's veins run cold.

Well, as cold as they could possibly get, considering he was already cold-blooded.

The two eyes were animal-like, shining like a cat's does at night. But the second Don blinked, they were gone.

Not even realizing he'd been holding his breath, Don released a puff of air slowly, keeping his eyes on that spot in the dark. After a few moments, he resumed his task of waking his brother.

It didn't take much. Two taps on the shoulder, and Leo was awake. He sat up in his bed, yawning once quietly. "What time is it?"

Checking his watch, Don sighed. "One thirty-five."

"I thought my shift started at one."

Don nodded. "It took you a while to drift off. I thought I'd let you sleep."

In the dark, Leo looked like he was about to say something, but stopped himself, shaking his head. "Okay."

Lying down on his bed, Don folded his hands over his chest. "I haven't heard anything, and nothing's come through the doors…"

Leo turned to him. "But…?"

Taking in a deep breath, Don continued quietly. "But… I think I saw something just a few minutes ago," he pointed at the dark corner; "over there. You might wanna keep an eye on it."

Nodding, Leo looked at the place Don was pointing at before turning back to him. "What was it?"

Donny shrugged. "I'm not sure." He paused. "But it had eyes."

Immediately, Leo's posture straightened. "Eyes?" Donny could sense the apprehension growing in his brother as he looked around the room. "Do you think there might be someone in here?" he whispered.

Shrugging once more, Don rolled over onto his side. "It's a possibility."

The two were silent for a while. Finally, Leo sighed. "All right, I'll watch for it." Turning to Donny, his smile, forced, he was sure, was barely visible in the darkened room. "Go to sleep, bro."

"'Kay." Donny said, nodding his head, closing his eyes. It took a little bit for him to fall asleep, but when he did, he wished he hadn't. The dreams weren't so bad; not the kind that made you wet yourself, thank God.

But the eyes that followed him were enough to creep him out of a well-needed siesta.

&&&&&

Now _there_ was a long chapter! (pats self on the back before wincing at a _pop_) Ow! Damn these short arms!

Sorry if Callis', or his servant's, for that matter, language was confusing. It certainly drove me nuts as I was writing it! Not because I couldn't read it, but because of the stinky red lines that appear under misspelled words. Man, are they annoying!

So, we have another chapter down, and nine, terrifying more to go! Won't this be fun!

Now, as you know, I must ask: Please review!


	4. Let the Hunt Begin

Well, I'm back again, as promised!

And I'd just like to take this opportunity to say: Happy International Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Day!

Boy, is that a mouthful. Anyways, a group of us on the Stealthy Stories forum decided to make the fifth of May the above mentioned day, since that was the day the first TMNT comic was put out.

But back to the story. So you know; the last part of this chapter will be around the exact same time period, but from each one of the guys' point of view. They're each in a different place.

Everyone clear on that? Then let's get started!

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: Forty years from now, I'd like to think that I had ownership of the TMNT. However, that's wishful thinking; I'm pretty sure I won't. But, if you're around then, be sure to stop by Pi90katana's fish market, 'cause that might be the highest up the food chain I go!

&&&&&

**New York City. November 26, 2306 AD. 6:52 AM.**

For the past fifteen minutes, Leonardo had been awake. During that time, however, he had chosen to lie in bed, eyes closed, in hopes of determining a few answers to their predicament.

He was unable to find any that they hadn't thought of already.

Sighing softly, Leo sat up on his bed, finding Raph in a flash of blue light, who was sitting on a stool and glaring out the window, apparently not happy with what he saw.

Then again, it wasn't very often when his red-clad brother _was_ happy with what he saw.

Without looking at Leo, Raphael spoke to him. "This place is messed up."

Nodding, the eldest of the two stood up, ignoring the constant shade of blue that lit up the room. "I know. Something about this mansion doesn't sit well with me."

Raph turned to him. "Somethin' _is_ kinda fishy about it, but I wasn't talkin' about here." He went back to the window, raising his hand to indicate it. "Look; the sky hasn't changed at all."

Frowning, Leo walked around Donny's bed, over to where Raph was sitting, and examined the sky. True enough, it remained the same tone of gray as it had been when they'd arrived.

Cocking his head, Raph leaned back a little. "Think they're havin' a rainy season, or somethin'?"

Leo's eyes slowly drifted to the ground. "So why isn't anything wet?"

As nice as it would've been to simply dismiss the strange sky, the fact remained that everything he could see, and everything he'd noticed on their way here, was as dry as a bone. They'd seen no living foliage; in many places, the surface of the earth had cracked open.

It just didn't seem right.

At seven, they woke up Mike and Don. Still a little drowsy, they took the stools at the table, since Raph had been surprisingly kind enough to return his to the table and let Donny have it, choosing to stand, as Leo was.

The purple-clad turtle started the conversation. "Did any of you see something in here last night?"

Leo shook his head before looking to Mikey. He had told his little brother about the eyes when he's woken him up. The turtle hadn't seen it either; Raph had the same story.

Just as they were about to go into depth with their discussion, there was a knock on the door. Cautiously, Leo walked over to it and cracked it open, eventually fully parting it when he saw it was only Ella.

She bowed her head once his brothers came into her view, having gotten up to see who it was. "Mast'r Callis 'nv'tes ya to br'k'fst. Will ya be comin', or do ya need time to pr'pare?"

Wanting to speak to his brothers before they had any more dealings with Nigel Callis, Leo informed her, "Thanks. Tell him we'll be down in ten minutes."

Ella bowed again. "I'll do so."

Closing the door, Leo leaned against it, turning back to his brothers. "Remember, don't give him any information that could possibly be used against us."

Mikey laughed. "Dude, I know we gotta be careful, but you're making this sound like a spy movie!"

Rolling his eyes, Leo walked back over to the window. "We just need to be careful. Things are complicated enough already; we don't need them getting worse."

&&&&&

Callis was sitting at the table when they arrived. Upon seeing them, he smiled widely, standing to greet them. "Mornin'! I tr'st ya slept well?"

Mikey nodded, taking his seat at the table. Besides having to wake up at three in the morning, he'd slept great. However, from the looks of it, Donny hadn't. However, the brainier turtle didn't give any answer to Callis' question, though the old man didn't seem to have noticed.

Once they were all seated, a man with coal black hair and pale skin came into the room. He was introduced as 'Eth'n', or, what Mikey presumed, Ethan. The man looked to be in his mid-thirties, certainly the youngest person they'd seen here so far, but did not say a word as he placed the five plates on the table.

The orange-banded turtle was quite disappointed. This meal was rather meager, if you could even call it _that_. Consisting of a piece of toast the size of the floppy disks Don was always using, no condiments included, and one piece of burnt bacon, it made a breakfast bar look filling.

Leo, who was sitting to his right and opposite from Callis, shot him a look that said 'Be respectful, or else'. If he hadn't, Mikey probably would've complained.

Fortunately, he didn't need to. Callis, who had been watching them, raised an eyebrow curiously. "Is somethin' wrong?"

Well, he _had_ asked. "Um," he began, "it's just we're used to a little bit more food."

"Ah," Callis said, nodding; "I 'member readin' 'bout t'ose days as a boy, b'fore the 'vasion. There was 'nuf food for everyone." He said sadly.

'_Vasion? _Mikey thought. _Does he mean _in_vasion?_

Raph seemed to have the same thoughts. "What kind of 'invasion' are ya talkin' about?"

Callis raised his head. "Ah, yes. The 'vasion. I fo'got ya don't know. Well," he began, taking a nibble out of his bacon; "it began in twenty-two-oh-one…"

&&&&&

Unable to subdue the need to go into his analytical mode, Donny leaned forward while listening to Callis' story, head resting in one hand with his elbow supporting him as he did so.

Tilting his head towards the ceiling, Callis began his story. "The year, from what my own dad told me, had been a good one. There was food 'n shelter, most of the w'rld was at peace." He looked sad. "And then, the Ardors came."

Raph frowned. "What the heck's an Ardor?"

"They're a'iens." Callis explained. "Very small ones. At f'rst, they went unnot'ced, hidin' among the rest of the pop'lati'n."

Here, Donny had to put in a question of his own. "How did they do that? I mean, were they able to blend in; are they humanoid?"

Staring at him, it took several seconds for Callis to answer. "I wasn't ev'n born yet. But my dad tol' me that they were hidin' in barns and bas'men's and weren't found 'til the Judgement Day, as it's called."

Judgement Day. You could hear the capital letters. It sure didn't sound good.

Callis only proved that feeling with the rest of the story. "First, odd t'ings happened. 'Lectricity was lost on a g'obal scale; c'mmunications and t'ansportation were impossible; we've nev'r been able to retr've 'em."

_That explains the Shell Cells. _Donny thought.

"And they p'luted the atm'sphere just 'bove earth with some sort of chemical that, to this day, leaves us with little vis'bil'ty."

_And there's our answer to how strange the sky looks here._

Going on, Callis got to the meat of the story. "And then, all at once, they were out in the open, killin' nea'ly everyone in han'-to-han' combat. They are a vicious race." He tapped his fingers on the table. Fingers quivering a little bit, from what Don presumed was arthritis, he picked up the toast and took a tiny bite, apparently not liking it much, from the look on his face. Putting it back on his plate, he continued. "T'ose who lived had to go into hidin', people like my paren's. Today, very few of us are lef'."

Leo, who also seemed intrigued by this story, kept his gaze on Callis. "So, did they just up and leave one day?"

"No, no." the old man clarified. "The lot of 'em, though, stole nea'ly all of earth's r'sources when they went." He gestured to the plates. "That's why we haf so little to offer ya. There's only so much lef'. Anyway, some are still here, very few, mind ya, but they 'main. They stay to keep us in check- and to sati'fy their need to kill."

Having practically inhaled his food, Mikey now looked out the window cautiously. "Wait, if these Ardor guys are still around, how do you know they won't come here to get you?" Obviously, he, like the rest of them, were a little unnerved by this comment.

Grinning slightly, Callis raised his hands around him. Don didn't know what he meant until he spoke. "The light." He said. "When the Ardors came, it was 'ventually di'covered that their weakness was the light, that's why they took out our 'lectricity. My dad, who was, for a time, part of a 'sistance group, many of which are still 'round today; he and some ot'ers found these small, glowin' objects that pr'duced light biol'gically. The Ardors hate it."

Glancing at the walls, Donny's attempts to locate the source of this biological light were still ineffective. He would have liked to examine it very much if he were able to. "Have you run into any more survivors?" He asked.

Shaking his head, Callis sighed. "Very few. 'Casion'ly, some who're travelin' to ot'er areas stop for the nigh', but it's been a while."

Don tapped his fingers gently against the table and finished his meal, debating this subject over in his head. If this light kept the Ardors away, you would think that more people would be doing all they could to get in here.

Silently, he watched as the three servants came in and out of the room; Ethan to clear the dishes, Ella to offer drinks, and Carl to bring some medication for Callis' arthritis, as Don had figured the cause of the shaking to be.

_Maybe_, he suddenly thought as he watched them, _someone's keeping them away…_

&&&&&

After breakfast, which left Raph's stomach growling, they headed back to their room while Callis retired to his own; his medication, and his age, made him drowsy.

When they entered their room, Raph's attention was immediately drawn to that stupid window. The gray sky remained the same, only now Raph knew why.

When you lived in the sewers, that little glimpse of blue was like a miner's of gold or jewels. It was a treasure. And he hated that it had been taken away from the world.

Mikey plopped down on a bed, not caring that it was Don's and not his. "Man… If we can get back home, do you think there's any way we can stop this from happening?"

Don shrugged sadly. "I'm not sure, Mikey. I mean, how much can we honestly do to prevent an alien force from attacking the planet _ninety-five_ _years_ into our future? Most likely, we were already dead when this happened."

Raph punched a wall. "Yeah, but there must be somethin' we can do! Like warn people somehow, or-"

Cutting him off, Leo brought a very important fact to the table. "Hold on, guys. Before we can even discuss this, we need to find a way to get _back_ home. There's nothing we can do here."

That was very true. But it didn't make Raph very happy. Growling he walked over to the bathroom and slammed the door, opening it just a little ways when that nasty smell invaded his nose. However, it was nicely sound proof; the red-clad turtle probably would've been unable to hear anything if he hadn't had the door open.

They remained in their room for a little over an hour, Don thinking of this new information, he was sure, while Mike tried to entertain himself. Leo, who'd been staring out the window, pondering over God knows what, eventually kicked Raph out of the bathroom so he could use it.

Coming out, slightly happy to inhale some pleasanter air, Raph sat around for a grand total of two minutes. "I'm goin' to look around. I wanna see if there's any more answers around here."

"Raph," Don started, rising to his feet; "maybe you should wait for Callis. I'm sure he'll answer any of our questions-"

"Yeah, but I don't feel like waiting, okay?" Raph said. He nodded his goodbye and left the room.

In the hallway, he turned to his right, in a direction he had yet to explore, since Carl had led them here last night from the left and the dining room was in that way as well.

One of the first things he'd discovered was a huge library. Some of the books he recognized; stuff like _The Three Musketeers, Moby Dick, Treasure Island_, and other classics. However, there were several he'd never heard of. Shrugging it off, he figured they had been published after his time.

The next two rooms were empty, unsurprisingly. He'd heard of mansions that had places unknown to even the owners. _No one really needs so much space anyways._

He found another bathroom that stank, like the other two he'd seen. Wrinkling his beak in disgust, he left the room, wondering which of Callis' staff was in charge of cleaning these bathrooms, since they obviously weren't doing a very good job. Then again, if this place had a whole bunch of them, it'd be a difficult task.

The last room Raph explored was the most striking. It was a weight room- a well used weight room. Frowning, he figured that that Ethan guy was the one who probably used it. Maybe Carl did as well, he looked rather fit.

It had been nearly an hour and a half since Raph had begun his search. Sighing, he figured that he should probably head back to his room now, though the thought of the dreaded, and for sure awaiting, lecture from his older brother did not sound appealing.

Had he been younger, he would've been rather worried by his surroundings. This mansion was so big, you'd need to borrow the breadcrumbs from Hansel and Gretel to find your way through it.

Luckily, however, one of Master Splinter's first lessons had been to always be aware of your surroundings. After a little thinking, Raph was on the right way back.

And then he heard a sound that reminded him of glass breaking.

Surprised, he turned around, but found nothing. He was about to continue going when he heard something like a soft bark. He turned back again, but still was unable to place something with the noise.

But then he started back to his room. Only now, in his path, was a hairy, black… _creature_. At first, it reminded him of a chimpanzee, but in the next second, the temperamental turtle knew it was anything but. Standing at three feet, it rested its clawed hands on its knees, though its feet were on the ground.

"What the-" Raph said, studying the thing, but cut himself off as another one just like it popped its head out from around the corner and joined it.

The first moved quickly, standing on all four feet.

&&&&&

Less than two minutes after Raphael had left, Michelangelo, victim of boredom and curiosity, decided to go out of their little room as well. Some exploring sounded fun.

Frowning at his younger brother's decision, Don shook his head. "Mikey, I don't think that's the best idea. We should wait at _least_ until Raph-"

"C'mon, Donny." Mike interrupted him, grinning. "Think of all the cool stuff they gotta have in here! Like computers and… rooms with lots of cool stuff!"

Rolling his eyes, his purple-clad brother folded his arms. "If their computers work as well as that TV over there," he said, pointing to the useless box; "then I think I'll sit out on this one. And I really think you should too. I mean, it's bad enough that Raph's gone; Leo's gonna throw a fit, but I think that _both_ of you will be worse off if you go."

But that stupid door, or rather, the mysteries it held outside of it, was calling to him. Not paying much mind to Don's words, he smiled back at him, waving as he headed towards the door. "Okay, be back in a few!"

Turning left, the young ninja headed deeper into the mansion, through various hallways, searching for anything of interest. He was fairly disappointed; mostly they were empty rooms.

One room, however, caught his eye, out of peculiarity, mostly. All that was within was a lone dresser, nothing sitting a top of it.

Feeling a little too nosy, Mike could nevertheless resist searching through its drawers.

What he found was surprising.

There were clothes. Now, that wasn't the odd thing; it was the type. Sure, he'd yet to see these styles, but the sizes and sort were the same as three hundred years ago.

Clothes for men, clothes for women; clothes for adults, clothes for children; baby outfits, uniforms, knitted granny sweaters, and animal apparel.

Confused, Mikey finished and stepped back, unable to find a theme for this wardrobe. _Maybe someone has a collection or something…_

As he was turning to leave, figuring that he'd spent enough time between this room and the others, he suddenly noticed a closet. Unable to keep himself from it, the orange-banded turtle opened it.

It was even stranger here. The closet was full of shelves, which held various items. Books, that for him, had yet to be thought of, belts, shoes of all sizes, children's toys and stuffed animals, jewelry, and even a condom.

Towards the center of this collection sat a rather cute teddy bear. Grabbing it, he turned it over gently in his hands, feeling the soft, brown fur of the toy. Judging by the red and yellow finger paint on its ears and head, it had been used and loved by a very young child.

Placing it back on the shelf, Mikey closed the closet doors and started out of the room. No sooner had he taken one step out of it did he run into what he first assumed was a household dog.

Only, after he'd actually gotten a look at it, did he realize that it was no dog.

The creature stared at him with harsh, green eyes, its black hair bristling. Its face was fairly smooth, like a monkey's, but this was not something anyone would dare put in a zoo, for fear of what might happen to the visitors, as well as the other animals.

Yes, hate radiated from this thing, sending cold fear into Mike's body. As its teeth came into view, yellowish and sharp, like a wolf's, he realized the mistake he'd made.

He had forgotten the Ever-Obvious Rules of Horror Movies One-Oh-One, starting with never wander amidst a strange mansion alone.

&&&&&

Tapping his two fingers on the table, Donny's eyes shifted back and forth from the bathroom door to the exit of the room.

He _really_ didn't want to have to be the one to tell Leo that Raph and Mikey had gone to search the Callis' home alone.

Frowning, Don stood. They hadn't been gone for long; Mikey had left only four minutes ago and Raph not too long before him. Maybe he could go track them down and bring them back here.

_Before Leo gets out of the bathroom? Yeah, good luck with that._

Despite this, Don decided to take his chances and left the room. Figuring that his two brothers would probably choose the uncharted territory of the mansion, he turned right.

Quickly, the brainier turtle realized just how difficult of a task he'd undertaken. There were one to many hallways here; no way could he find Raph and Mikey as fast as he would've liked.

Sighing, he kept on going, hoping that he might get lucky and find one of them before too long.

Sticking to as straight of a path as he could manage, the purple-banded ninja began opening doors to rooms, searching for one of his siblings.

At the beginning, there was nothing too questionable. Many of the rooms were vacant, as he expected several rooms in mansions as big as these to be. It was nearly impossible to collect so many things that you filled every nook and cranny of the large home.

However, the further he got, the more occupied the rooms became. There would be little things, like beds and desks in some places. No other accessories or accommodations, like in their room.

And then he came to a very… _strange_ looking one. Reeking of an awful smell, like many of the ones before it, it was empty. But the walls…

Every wall in here was scored, like a cat's scratching board. Wallpaper, if that's what it was, was shredded; the wood beyond it was in pieces. In many places, there were huge dents in the walls, like a car had hit them. Not even the floor, its carpet in ruins, nor the _ceiling_ was spared.

But the worse thing about it, Don found, upon closer inspection, was the scratches themselves. Within the marks was a dried, red substance, purple when the light flashed.

Suddenly, he froze. It smelled like blood.

Preparing to leave at once, locating his brothers in a mad frenzy and alerting them of this, he was stopped in his tracks.

Cursing himself for letting his guard down, as a scientist might, but never a ninja could afford to do, he took a step back. Before coming in, he should've examined the _entire_ room, corners and all. Still, he was unsure how he hadn't seen it.

A horrible beast stood before Donatello, growling fiercely and digging its claws that reminded him all too well of the prehistoric velociraptor into the floor. Granted, it was a good two feet shorter than him, but then again, so were many dogs that had been known to kill.

It almost seemed to smile as it came closer to him.

&&&&&&

Leo walked out of the bathroom knowing that something was wrong. Call it a big brother/leader intuition; he knew it to be true.

The smell of that bathroom was nauseating. Oddly enough, it seemed to be coming from the tub, rather than the toilet. But he found nothing too out of the ordinary about the tub. Its color, though it had most likely once been white, was more of a light sunrise shade now, through use, like any other bathtub.

Annoyed by how soundproof the bathroom was, and accompanied by that feeling that his brothers would no longer be on the other side of the door, Leo left the room with a feeling of dread in his stomach, wiping out the feeling of however little full it had been after breakfast completely.

And sure enough, the moment he was out, he knew he was right. All three of his brothers were missing, gone without even saying a word. Then again, he shouldn't have been surprised. It was nothing personal, after all. They did this to him, as well as Master Splinter, sometimes himself included, on a regular basis.

Suddenly realizing why their Sensei had so many gray hairs, Leo growled and left the room himself, wishing that, when he found them, he could drag them all the way back by their ears, if only their ears were visible.

Moving smoothly through the hallways, bathed in more blue than usual, he was sure that he'd gone, at least, in one direction his siblings had taken. Leo checked every room that came in his path, briefly, but thoroughly, scanning each one without entering and resisting the urge to do so as the contents of each one became weirder.

He must've been searching for an hour or so when he heard a crash, like breaking glass. Wondering if a window had been broken, he turned around, drawing one of his katanas.

Apprehensive, the blue-clad turtle took a cautious step forward before leaping back. And it was a good thing that he had too, for the second he did, in his place landed an animal, on its feet like a cat. But this was something he by no means would dare pet.

As it slowly straightened its legs, claws tapping against the floor, another one dropped down beside it. Not daring to see if there were any more of these things hanging above him, Leo kept his senses on high alert, listening for any movement above him, as he kept his eyes on these two demonic creatures in front of him.

Watching one lick its lips, he took on a more defensive posture, trying his best to prepare himself for anything. Slowly unsheathing his second katana, Leo took another step back before standing his ground at a safe enough distance, waiting to see what these things would do so he could plan his next move.

Teeth bared, they leapt.

&&&&&

And so the hunt begins. WAHAHAHA! (blinks before running away) Ah! Don't kill me!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Please tell me! And also, if you believe I should put this under a sci-fi genre instead of action/adventure, feel free to tell me so!

Also, if you're confused as to where the guys are, I've made a layout of this part of the mansion that I shall post on my area of Stealthy Stories as soon as I can.

Have a nice day!


	5. Skeletons in the Closet

Okey-dokey, I'm back!

As I explained last chapter, the next four will be from one turtle's perspective alone. These events are basically happening around the same time for each one of them.

And the first turtle up is Donatello!

Let the horror begin…

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: Thanks to that stupid copyright infringement law, I cannot claim the TMNT as mine.

&&&&&

**New York City. November 26, 2306 AD. 11:47 AM. **

Drawing his bo staff as the hairy creature came closer, Don kept his eyes on it while scanning the room out of the corner of his vision, determining a way to get past it.

His time was cut in two, however, as it suddenly leapt at him. Moving as quickly as he could to the right, Donny was still unable to avoid the sharp teeth that nicked his arm, drawing a little blood.

Paying the wound little mind for now, the purple-clad turtle swung his bo staff at the animal's stomach, using his opportunity while it had yet to reach the ground.

There was a meaty thud as a hard vibration traveled up through the ninja's bo staff. Hitting the floor, the creature immediately recovered, flipping its head back in Donny's direction. It looked _very_ angry.

In a flash, it was rushing at him again. Jumping in the air, Don spun around and tried to kick it. Unfortunately, while his foot hit it solidly in the mouth, the strange animal didn't give up, choosing to open its mouth and bite down on the side of the turtle's foot.

Yelping once, he tried to bring his bo staff down on the thing's head. However, the animal moved away at that moment before charging right back at him. The blow sent Donny back, his shell coming into contact with a broken mirror with a crash, breaking off and casting a few loose pieces to the floor.

Raising his head, he found that his attacker was coming at him yet again, mouth wide open. Ducking his head back to the ground just in time, the creature beat his body against the wall as it jumped for his head, finding plaster instead of turtle.

While it was recovering from its contact, Don rolled away, moving as fast as he could.

But it wasn't fast enough.

Seconds later, animal-like green eyes were drilling into him, revealing most, if not all, of its character. There was an intense hatred there, as well as determination. And once again, much like an animal, there was a thick and heavy bloodlust- the desire to _feed_.

Only, _unlike_ the animal it so reminded Don of, there was also some manner of _intelligence_, though hard to see, indicating that this thing possibly _knew_ of the pain it put its victims through.

And it enjoyed it profusely.

Mind suddenly thrown back to the breakfast conversation not too long ago, the teenager recalled Callis' story, specifically the invasion of the Ardors.

Though the creatures attacked and extinguished most of the life on earth with a beastly manner, there were parts of it that had been _planned_; planned by something of an intellectual nature.

Donatello was beginning to feel that this thing fit that description, that it was an Ardor.

While the turtle was frozen in place, the Ardor moved towards him, slowly now, contemplating its moves. With a burst of speed, Donny swung his bo staff at its head as hard as he could.

Only the tail end of the stick connected. But that small piece broke off with a loud crack. He didn't think he'd hit it that hard.

Surprised, the creature fell back, scratching at its hairy black head gently with one clawed hand, giving Don all the space he needed to get out of the room. Equally shocked, he nevertheless came around quickly enough to get up and leave.

After growing accustomed to the bite on his foot, which hurt like shell but didn't seem to have hit bone, and able to move faster, Don looked behind him only to find the Ardor fast on his heels.

Tapping into every bit of his stored speed, the purple-banded turtle turned his attention back before him and ran towards a door that lay dead ahead of him.

Flinging it open, he raced inside and shut the door, positioning his shoulder against it and grasping the handle, as if in hope to pull it past its frame and further towards him, until his knuckles were white, jamming it shut. Outside, he heard the Ardor sniffing at the door, then growl. For a few moments, it was quiet… and then something hit it from the other side. Don froze as the door shuddered; he hadn't been expecting it to be _that_ strong.

Preparing himself for another blow, he remained in the doorway, quickened breaths slowing as he calmed himself. _The louder the target, the easier it is to catch_.

**He waited t**wo** minutes, expecting to **at least **hear it** again** outside, but never did.** Confused, Donny loosened his grip slightly; his fingers appreciative for the rest, and placed his ear against his side of the door. He heard nothing.

Still not sure if he was safe or not, Don opted to remain in his current position… for the moment. He didn't want to leave until he was sure what kind of enemy he was facing.

_My brothers…_ He suddenly remembered. Raph and Mikey, at the very least, were still out and about in this place; and he was sure that Leo, by now, would've come out looking for them as well. They were out there, along with Don's new _friend_.

_And who's to say that there aren't more of them?_

That's when another horrid thought struck him. What if they'd _already_ come into contact with these Ardors- his, or other ones entirely?

_I have to get out of here._ With this thought in mind, as well as the poetical hopes that there might be something useful in this room that could aid him in his task, he turned around.

Suddenly realizing that he'd made the same mistake twice now, he prayed that he'd gotten lucky and that there wouldn't be a little demon in the room waiting for him.

Instantly, he wished for the bloodthirsty Ardor.

Despite the darkness of the room, his eyes had become adjusted enough to make out his surroundings. He was in a closet, judging by the small space, though a fairly large one indeed. Attached to a bedroom, it'd be any woman's dream.

But here, it better suited the needs of a malevolent, and from what he'd seen so far, cannibalistic race. Now, Donny was _sure_ that what he'd just come into contact was an Ardor.

For this room implied the work of a species evil, _and_ hungry enough, to _fill_ it with the bones of its victims.

In the pulsing, angelic blue light, the bones cast off eerie shadows. Though he was positive that there were at least a hundred or so skeletons in here, _very_ few seemed to be intact; it was impossible to tell where one cadaver began and where another ended. Heck, Don wasn't even sure if he was looking at one skull or two; the skeletons were in so many pieces.

And from what Don could tell, they were all humanoid.

First thought being to bolt out of the room and vomit what little he'd eaten today, he forced himself to stay put. Leo was always talking about knowing your enemy; a strategy that _was_ extremely important; he figured now might be an excellent time to put it to use.

Hands shaking slightly, Don crouched down and retrieved what looked like a human rib. Lifting it to his face, he examined it.

_Oh, God…_

He'd been right. These Ardors, or at least whatever had put these bodies here, had fed upon them. _Mostly_, the bone looked to have been picked clean; it could've come to this state by decomposition.

But Don didn't think that so many bodies could've gone unnoticed for _years_ without _someone_ finding them.

Besides, there were _bite_ marks on the bone fragments. They'd been _chewed_. Like when a man throws his hungry dog the remains of a turkey leg, it'd been _chewed_.

Disgusted, Donny tossed the rib from his hands. _What kind of thing would do something like this?_

Shaking his head, the purple-clad turtle stood. _Gotta find my brothers…_ He'd have to think about this later.

Taking a deep breath, he headed back for the door. Just as he was about to open it, he turned back, looking sadly upon the skeleton memorial, arranged with as much care as road-kill.

He didn't think that their deaths had been peaceful. And he was worried that his and his family's might end up matching it.

He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let a monster, or _monsters_, get away with mass murder. It wasn't right.

Nodding his goodbye, Don opened the door and walked out, closing it quietly behind him.

Finding himself in the tunnels of the mansion once more, Donny started forward, ears picking up noise in the distance, looking for any signs of trouble. Not even an hour before, he'd been roaming these hallways like a tourist in a museum.

But now, he felt more like he was in _The Shining_.

As if that thought alone had jinxed him, he recognized the sound as a scuffle… not too far in the distance. Around the corner came an Ardor, claws digging into the carpet as it tried to halt its sharp turn.

It was about to head off in the opposite direction when it froze. Sniffing the air, it turned its head to him before completely facing him.

Somehow, Donatello knew this wasn't the Ardor he'd faced earlier. While an animal's memory wasn't always the best, they usually remembered simple things that had happened only moments before. Besides, it was alien. He had the feeling that if it could come to Earth and successfully wipe out life on it, it would remember seeing him.

The Ardor looked somewhat confused. For a while, it just stared at him, like it was surprised.

Then, he heard a yell, which was followed by an angered war cry. It didn't take a genius to identify the voice as a certain red-clad turtle.

"Raph…?" Donny said, wanting to know what was going on, wanting to know what had happened to his brother.

His speech had obviously broken the silence. Immediately, the Ardor's head snapped back in his direction. Growling, it's black lips slowly peeled back, revealing those sharp teeth.

Then it headed in Donny's direction.

Groaning, he grabbed his bo staff, backing up and getting ready to move, all the while becoming aware of his injured foot, which was making its pain known once more. "Not again…" He mumbled.

As the creature burst forward, Donny took off, careful to check where it was through his peripheral vision as he moved.

Coming to the hallway he'd gone through earlier when he'd been looking for his brothers, Don was tempted to go into one of the six doors. They'd checked out okay, or at least, they'd been better than the scratched up room and the closet.

But what if there were Ardors in there too? It was hard enough escaping _one_ with all of his body parts still intact; two or more would be harder to handle.

However, he didn't have to worry about making that decision for very long. The next thing he knew, he could feel his pursuer's claws piercing the back of his right thigh.

Crying out, Don hit the ground. Looking back, he watched as the Ardor slashed with one clawed hand while remaining latched onto him with the other. Then, it opened its mouth and lowered its head.

Terror swimming laps in his veins now, Don thought of the skeletons, how he'd wondered what kind of death they'd had. If the Ardors were like many of the wild predators he could think of at the moment, not only had the victims quickly become part of the food chain, but they might've joined it while they were still alive.

"I'm not gonna be your buffet table, pal!" Donny yelled, swinging his leg into the wall so hard that he cried out.

The Ardor, unprepared for the blow, hit the wall solidly, its head coming into full contact with the doorknob. Donny heard a crack as the body of the alien species went limp, falling to the floor.

Breathing heavily, the brainier turtle watched its figure for a few moments before mentally pronouncing it dead, his eyes never leaving the corpse until that point, fearing that if he did, it would be alive and feeding upon him in seconds.

Once he was sure it would be taking a permanent dirt nap, Don examined his flesh wound, hissing as he touched it, the bruise that was starting to form not helping any. It stung badly; the claws had gotten in deeper than he would've liked, but not so bad that any major blood vessels or arteries had been hit. He wasn't losing a dangerous amount of blood, nothing worse than a fight with the Foot.

Minus the fact that a ninja had never tried to _eat_ him.

Rising to his feet, Don leaned on a wall for support, limping slightly as he made his way through the hall, in search of his brothers. As he was wondering if Callis and his servants knew about this, he was struck by a sudden chord of confusion.

The blue light pulsing above him, irritating as it was, was supposed to keep the Ardors _away_. So why were they here? Had they found a way past it? Or perhaps they'd developed a new defense system against it?

Don shook his head, thoughts buzzing through it with migraine force. He knew nothing, or at least very little, about these creatures. How was he supposed to figure them out?

All he'd been able to figure out so far was that they were hostile, alien, and fed upon anything that seemed to get in their way. And while that was enough to arouse the need to stay away from them, it wasn't enough to determine how to stop them, besides cramming a doorknob through their skull.

Rubbing his forehead, Don looked up, unconsciously searching for a source for the flashing light. _What am I gonna do?_

Taking a deep breath, his mind slowly cleared, working to his advantage once more. _Find your brothers; stay alive._

He'd work out the kinks to this mystery later.

&&&&&

So… how was that? Short, I know, but you must consider that it _was_ rather lengthy, being from only one person's point of view. That was a lot of story there. Had I made this chapter from everyone's point of view, it'd be over twenty pages!

And while I love long chapters, suspense builds horror and this _is_ a horror story. Plus, it would make the chapter cluttered. And how much fun would that be?

Oh, and if you think Don is pretty concerned for his family at the moment, imagine how much Leo will be going through…

So, please review! Next chapter will be up in ten days!


	6. Table for None

And here we are! Another chapter!

With all the horror poor Don went through, I'm sure at least some of you must have been wondering what I have in store for the others. To keep the terror going, it must be even worse, right?

So, let me tell you early on that Raph here isn't going to like what he sees…

As a recap, let me explain. Raph, back in Chapter 4, had heard a sound like glass breaking, as did Leo. Since that glass was the mirror breaking in Don's fight, this chapter takes place a few minutes after that. When the first Ardor showed up, he was just around. The second, however, happens to be the very one Donny had been fighting to begin with.

Clear? Probably not. It's a little confusing. But you guys are smart; you'll get it. And if you don't, send me a message and I'll try to explain better.

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: For the fragile minds of younger fans, blood and gore is not shown on the TMNT, though we older fans know that it _should_ be. Therefore, due to graphic nature/reality of my stories, I do not own them.

&&&&&

**New York City. November 26, 2306 AD. 11:49 AM.**

As a frown started to form on his beak, Raph slowly lowered his hands to his belt, wrapping his fingers around his sais, anticipating the oncoming battle, though he was fairly unsure as to how he should wage his half.

Usually, he and his brothers fought humans, or, at least, _humanoid_ adversaries who wielded some form of weapon. Only on rare occasions had they been put up against something of a very different nature, such as the monstrous animals they'd faced months ago that had been mutated, thanks to the cream-filling in Agent Bishop's manufactured aliens. Some had been pretty hard to handle.

And these things were another story entirely. The pair made the red-clad ninja think of a variety of animals sharing the same body.

First was a large and grotesque monkey, as their appearance reminded him of. They were even worse than some of the nastier ones he'd seen in a zoo once, when April, insisting that they come, had brought him and his brothers along in disguise. Donatello had gone on and on about their close relationship with humans and how intelligent they were; Raph hadn't been very interested and had tuned most of it out.

But now, all that was coming back to mind as he watched the two hairy creatures. Somehow, he got the impression that these things were _very_ intelligent, much more so than the stupid monkeys, whose only display of intellect for him had been their flinging their own shit at each other.

Standing his ground, Raph watched the first one roll its red tongue out of its mouth, revealing sharp, yellowish teeth, and roll it back in. It stared up at him, unblinking, with intense green eyes.

Now, they reminded him of a tiger- maybe a wolf. Some type of bestial hunter. Contemplative. Determined. Dangerous.

_Hungry._

That sudden thought made Raph blink, his grip tightening on his sais. They _were_ hunting. They were hunting _him_.

He found himself on a nature channel, in the middle of a documentary on the animals of Africa, focusing on a scene involving lions, carefully stalking the gazelles, then starting after them with a burst of speed.

It usually didn't end so well for the gazelle.

Growling, Raph took out both of his weapons, raising one. He was _not_, under any circumstances, about to become these creatures' main course. And he wasn't going to take off like a freakin' gazelle, either.

If this had upset his opponents, now a mere fifteen feet away, they didn't show it. Rather, they looked excited by this prospect.

Raph narrowed his eyes. _Oh joy._

And then, without warning, the second one shot forward at him, quicker than he could've ever imagined. Launched toward his throat, the turtle barely had enough time to duck, much less attack.

After just scarcely getting his head out of the creature's range, Raph made the mistake of turning his attention to it instead of the one that was still behind him. He was quick to remember, though, when he was suddenly shoved forward by it when it collided with his shell.

He felt the tips of its claws tapping against his carapace as it tried to find a grip. Two seconds later, they were going into his flesh, just above it. On the back of his neck, he could feel its warm breath.

Twisting himself around rapidly, Raph was eventually able to get the thing loose, though his skin suffered quite a bit for it. He'd survive; he was just happy it hadn't torn his head from his shoulders. The animal hit the ground, rolling three times before coming to a stop, righting itself as it did so.

Even before it had completed its turns, the red-banded turtle had thrown one of his sais at it. It was just about to hit it directly in the chest when the creature took three steps backward.

The sai rooted itself in the floor diagonally.

For a moment, all Raph could do was stare. These things were _fast_. Faster than him, or any of his brothers.

The corners of the beast's mouth flickered upwards, like a grin. It knew that he'd missed, and that he was surprised.

Hearing the slow taps of taloned feet behind them, Raph turned sharply just in time to block the other creature from attacking him in the same manner as the first one. With his remaining sai, he swiped at it, managing to cut its front left leg.

Raph couldn't help but grin at that. "Ha! Got ya, ya little bugger."

A deep and menacing growl resonated from the injured beast's throat. It looked up at him, hatred in its eyes. Turning slightly, he kept an eye on it, as well as the one behind him, which was starting to close in again.

_Well, this is workin' out nicely._ He thought sarcastically, starting to despise how small this hallway now appeared to him. There wasn't enough room to fight the both of them confidently while one was always behind him.

In hopes of maybe just bringing them both to his front, he darted off in the direction of his lost sai, planning on scooping it up and fighting. He got to it, but the second he did, he felt teeth close on his free arm, just below his elbow.

Crying out slightly, Raph raised his fist, aiming it for the thing's head. Just as he was about to bring it down, the animal let go and stepped back, causing him to hit his new wound instead.

_Brilliant. _Wincing slightly, he paid it little attention as he looked at the two.

The creature had moved back far enough to allow him some room. In the blink of an eye, Raph was back to his feet, getting ready to fight again. However, a stupid little voice of reason was going off in his head, telling him that now might not be the best time to do so; that he needed to get out in one piece and tell his brothers about this.

He _hated_ that little voice.

Surprising the weird hairballs, he unexpectedly rushed right at them, jumping over their heads at just the right moment, avoiding any more nasty bites.

Looking behind just once to see where they were, he turned the corner, heading right, with his little friends hot on his tail.

Coming into yet another hallway, he suddenly felt one of the animal's latch onto his right thigh, just barely, though it hurt like a bitch. Yelling out, he tried shaking the thing off before pulling his sai out and getting ready to stab it to death if he needed. _Now_ he was _really_ ticked off. Letting out a growl of his own, he raised the sai.

Just as he was about to lower it into its flesh, however, the animal let go; Raph had to bring an abrupt halt to the descent of his weapon to avoid sticking himself through, pulling the same mistake nearly twice in under a minute.

As the thing hit the floor, Raph sent his foot into its underside, hurling it a good ten feet away, before taking it off, taking silent note that he hadn't seen its partner.

Almost immediately, he found another door. Unlike the others before it, it was metal instead of wood. Not really caring, Raph grabbed the handle and threw it open, shutting it immediately.

There was a lock. He set it and stood back, hearing the creature scratch loudly at the door. Raph found himself grinning again.

Ignoring the animal's sounds outside the door, he found, attached to the wall to his right, was a counter. Noticing that there were a few pieces of cloth-like napkins lying upon it, Raph turned to pick up a few, planning on using them to wrap at least his arm, and possibly his thigh, if there was enough material.

He'd just finished tying up the makeshift bandage for his arm and was measuring how much he'd need for his leg by eye when he thought he saw something in the center of the room, visible in the pulsing blue light.

Frowning, he took two steps forward, waiting for the light to reveal what he'd seen once more.

When it did, his confident grin disappeared.

"Holy shit…" He whispered, turning his back as soon as he'd recovered from the shock, gagging.

There were four tables in the room; metal, like the ones Bishop tied his _test subjects_ to. One of them in here was occupied. Eviscerated, a man lay on the one closest to the door.

Raph hadn't taken everything about the scene in, and he had no desire to. But what he had perceived could not be erased from his mind.

The skin had been pale, more so due to the lighting. At least one arm had been draped off the table, several rivers of blood streaming down it. It had looked fairly wet- rather recent.

But the worst had been the stomach. _Jurassic Park_ had always been one of Raphael's favorite books; naturally, he'd enjoyed the movies too.

On a silver screen… dinosaurs chowing down on the insides of one another and humans had been frightening, but not to the point where he'd leave the room, or even look away. It was movie magic. But here, in the flesh, it was revolting and utterly despicable.

Once his brain had quieted down a little bit, he became aware of the scratching and thumping of the creature outside. Narrowing his eyes in anger and disgust, his hands twisted into fists.

Why was he getting the feeling that this thing had something to do with this?

_Wait a minute…_ Raph tried to make sense of this. _If this thing were just an animal, why the hell would it need a table? Animals don't care about gettin' their food dirty. And _how_ would it even get it up there?_

Swallowing, the ninja turned his head back around to get another view of it, trying to ignore the carnage it supported. Sure enough, the table was at least a foot taller than the creature outside.

_Table._ The word rung through his head. He suddenly got the notion that that was _exactly_ what this was. A table to _eat_ off of, which explained the condition of the body.

That just made Raph want to vomit even more.

For some reason, his thoughts drifted back to the breakfast conversation, which now seemed to have taken place days ago. Callis had said something about those aliens having a need to kill.

Well, with these little things running about, the place sure reeked of death. But Callis hadn't said anything about a need to _feed_. Had he left out that part?

But why would he do that?

Raph shook the thought out of himself. He had no evidence to consider the freakin' hairballs as Ardors.

Yet… having wiped out practically all of life on the planet, he couldn't doubt that they were cannibalistic. If some sort of alien race could do that, who was he to say they wouldn't use the dead as food?

All these ideas only made Raph want to hurl, not to mention rip his brain out of his head and tell it to shut up. Deep thinking wasn't exactly his thing. He liked to go into a fight and kick the crap out of whatever was fighting against him, providing that it was a bad guy, or _thing_, that he was going up against.

But, he had to admit; these animals were by no means native of the planet earth. They were _very_ alien. And Callis hadn't mentioned another evil alien species…

His mind was made up for now. They were Ardors.

That was when he heard something strange outside the door. All noise had stopped for a moment, though he hadn't really noticed until now. But then, he heard that soft little bark.

Silence.

Then, the handle slowly started to jiggle. Raph heard a _pop_.

The handle was turning.

Eyes wide, the red-banded turtle immediately rushed over to the door and grabbed the handle, fighting with whatever was on the other side to keep the door shut. He grit his teeth together, his hands starting to hurt. This thing was _strong_.

Just when he felt that it was going to win, he decided to take a risk and switch tactics. Taking a deep breath, he completed the turn and pushed the door out as hard and as fast as he could.

He heard an animal-like yelp on the other side and a nasty crunch. Breathing heavily, he slowly stepped out of the room, looking both ways to make sure he was alone. Then, he paused in front of the door, which still hid his enemy on the other side.

Figuring it was safe; he pulled the door back to see what it was. When he did, he got a surprise.

There was no doubt about it; the thing was dead. Blood was starting to leak out of its mouth and ears, eyes glazed and forever focused on the darkness death brought.

It was that stupid Ardor; he could tell by the small injury he'd dealt it, which remained on one of its legs. Yet it looked different. It was still hairy, one of the ugliest things he'd seen in his life, but it seemed _taller_, though that didn't make any sense.

But it was. Now, it was around his own height. Raph cocked his head. No, now it was… _shrinking_.

Confused, Raph still wasn't sure how it could've managed to open the damn door, even though he remembered how in _Jurassic Park_, the velociraptors had pulled off the same trick.

Then, he looked at its left hand. Its _human_ hand.

Brow furrowed, he looked at it closely. Sure enough, instead of thick, black hair and two curved claws, it sported smooth skin and five fingers.

_So that's how it did it…_ But _how_ could it do that?

Eyes still on it, Raph watched as the hand too began to revert to its original state, until it matched the other one, and the Ardor once again came to be a mere three feet.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed something in the thing's hair, by its head. Carefully, he reached down and snatched it up.

He examined it carefully, dread beginning to fill his belly. It was a small shard of wood. He could've been wrong, but this little piece looked a _lot_ like the wood Don's bo staff was made of.

_Shit_. Raph let the piece fall to the ground. He needed to find his brothers. Before it was too late.

Taking off, going the way he'd came, Raph paused for a moment to look back in that room.

There was no way in hell that he, or his brothers, were going to end up like that.

No way in hell.

&&&&&

Boy, was that a difficult chapter to write, though it was one of the first I'd ever planned. It took a lot of thinking on my part just to post the story, mainly because it conflicted with some of my morals.

Basically, so you all know, I do not, in any shape of form, like the whole cannibalism concept. It grosses me out, and makes my mind sick. But, in order to write a good horror fic, I must be scared as well.

Besides, since these are aliens, I'm not really sure if you can call it that. I mean, we eat animals like cows and chickens, though not in that manner… but you get what I mean.

Anyways, I just wanted you to know that.

Also, the next chapter might be a little late. I'm going on vacation and I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a computer where I'm at.

Please review in the meantime, though!


	7. Backstroke

I'm _so _sorry! I implore your forgiveness! I tried everything I could whilst on vacation to get this up on time, but alas, my attempts were in vain.

Anyways, again, I have discovered another difficult chapter to write. But it must make it to paper!

(sighs) I can't think of any fun author comments today. Can you just deal with a 'hi, how are ya' and a 'I hope you enjoy'?

No? Oh… Sorry to disappoint. Maybe the chapter will make you feel better!

Here we have Leonardo. Betcha thought I was saving him for last, huh? Nope. But he's in for something that might be a bit worse than Raph's discovery…

_Might_. Might, I say! I don't know which is worse… (shudders)

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: I am but an ant on the sole of the great shoe that is Eastman and Laird. I write stories, but I do not own the great TMNT dynasty.

&&&&&

**New York City. November 26, 2306 AD. 11:50 AM.**

As the first of the monsters came at him, head-on at his chest, Leo instinctively crossed his katanas over his plastron to defend himself. Hitting them, his adversary dropped to the ground and immediately opened its mouth to nip at his right leg.

Getting him directly below the knee, Leo winced before sweeping one sword down and cutting into the skin of its hind. Growling, the creature backed off before trying to attack again.

This time, however, Leo was able to move away in time. As the first attacker shifted out of the picture for a moment, he turned his attention to the one that was left.

It was proving to be more cautious than the creature ahead of it. For this reason, it scared him the most.

Fear. That was definitely something that the ninja felt he was permitted to partake in at this point in time. But he'd long since learned not to show it, only to be aware of it, so he could control the outcome of the fight.

There was a reason for this; a feeling Leo was starting to get about these creatures. Like there was much more to them than met the eye- that they possibly shared the intelligence of which he and his brothers acted, but in a more dangerous way.

Yes, he wasn't just fighting an animal. With the battles he'd been in, the blue-clad turtle had learned to tell the difference between his enemies. This thing before him, as well as its ally, _knew_ what they were doing.

_Unlike_ an animal though, this one, at least, _thought_ about its next move. It was cunning, and therefore had motives and desires for the closing of the combat. Yet, _like_ the animal it appeared to be, those wishes were based more on bestial needs and the want of blood. The two thoughts conflicted to reside oddly harmoniously in one being.

It made it unpredictable.

And _that's_ what made it frightening.

Somehow, he knew. These alien-like qualities spelled it out for him in his gut. They were Ardors.

Breaking himself away from this second one's penetrating gaze, he suddenly turned to block the first one's next attack.

But it had _learned_ from its past experience. This time, the creature leaped farther upwards, mouth open and ready to clamp onto his head. Breathing in quickly, Leo dropped to his knees, avoiding it once more.

However, the minute he was down, its buddy was upon him. Landing on his shoulder, it brought one claw up before lowering it into the flesh of his right arm, raking it over his skin, just above the elbow.

Crying out once, Leo made a fist and connected it solidly to the thing's jaw. It let go, falling not too far from his body, instantly rising back to its feet.

Doing likewise, the teenager backed up a little, rubbing his knuckles for a second. He'd hit people and other beings before in hand-to-hand combat; after a while, it didn't really hurt.

But with _this_ thing, he felt as if he'd just slammed his hand into a rock. It stung, but he didn't think anything was broken.

_This is enough_. Before he was going to fight these animals again, he was going to have a strategy. That required time to think one out, and with them attacking him in such a fierce and quick manner, he couldn't do that.

Therefore, it was time to run. Taking off unexpectedly, he turned the corner and ran as fast as he could. Soon, he came to a wall. There was a door.

_End of the line_. Paying no more attention to the animals behind him for now, Leo threw open the door and shut it behind him the minute he was inside. Almost instantly, he felt the weight of the things slam into it, rocking the door slightly.

Noticing a hinged lock, Leo closed it, sealing the entrance. Cautiously, he backed away, testing the lock's strength. When the Ardors hit the door again, it remained shut.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, the blue-banded ninja slowly began to back up, still not wanting to risk anything, as he sheathed his swords. As he did, he took in his surroundings, trying to put a name to the room, which seemed far too warm.

It smelled _horrible_, yet, oddly, familiar. He wanted to gag.

The floor and the walls around him were tiled; white and peach shades fading. Now, they were all mostly a rusted brown color. Left of the door, the room stretched on for about forty feet; there were five, small porthole-like windows looking outside. As he continued to move backwards, Leo noticed that there were a few, once white lawn-chairs in here, some overturned.

Suddenly realizing that this was an indoor pool, he decided he should probably turn around to make sure he didn't fall into what would inevitably be behind him.

Too late.

With his next pivoted step, his foot was plunged into the pool. Luckily for him, since he'd now realized what the room contained, he'd been focused enough to regain his balance.

But that wasn't what he was worried about. Taking three steps forward, figuring it was now probably better to keep his face ahead, he stared down wide-eyed at his left leg.

It was warm and sticky. What he had stepped into had been too thick to be clean, or even _dirty_ pool water.

No, from the middle of his calf down to the sole of his foot, he was covered in _blood_.

Swallowing, Leo gagged. Here, the smell was at its worst.

Only then did he realize why it was so familiar. Every bathroom he'd been in so far had smelt _exactly_ the same.

He hadn't dipped far into the pool. It had been _filled_, nearly to the brim. And Leo had no desire to see exactly how big it was.

_What the hell is going on? _He wondered, disgust filling him as he scanned the room, searching for any other clues besides what lay behind him.

_Anything_, as long as it wasn't behind him, though he knew that, before he left this room, he'd force himself to examine it.

Now, he noticed that not all of the tiling had that rust color. It was only in certain places; almost looking like the stroke of a paintbrush wielded by a small child, they seemed erratic, splattered here and there.

Only there was too much of it. Leo could now see that _several_ battles, not just one, had taken place here, over the span of time. Whether that period had taken years, months, weeks, days, minutes, or seconds, he was unsure.

But he prayed it was the latter one.

Caught up in his thoughts, he suddenly realized he'd been neglecting the Ardors outside his door. They'd stopped pounding.

As if on cue, he picked up on noises coming from the circular windows. _Scratching_.

With a bang of its head, one of the creatures broke the weakened glass open, prying any remaining pieces away with a claw like they were but dandelions, ruining its lawn. That accomplished, it leapt into the room.

Seeing how its companion had done, the other followed suit, though it didn't care to take the time to remove stray fragments of glass. Once it was in, it sniffed the air and licked its lips.

Leo shook his head in disgust, carefully taking out his katanas once more. They truly _were_ monsters.

This time, the ninja was the first to attack, a move that appeared to surprise the Ardors. Rushing at them, he swung one sword widely before them, just below their heads.

He hated to kill. But he feared that this time, if he didn't, he or his brothers would be the next casualties. From what he could tell, they were already on their list.

These creatures were faster than he could imagine. The second they saw the flash of steel coming closer, they'd gotten defensive, arches of their backs rising. Still, when they didn't move when he got closer, Leo was sure he was going to get them.

He'd thought wrong. Immediately, the two were out of his range, six feet away from him.

The more intelligent of the two hissed at the other before looking at Leo. Glowing eyes fixed on the turtle, it moved forward, cautiously sauntering, back and forth, claws tapping impatiently into the tile surface.

Then it stopped; glaring at him while it took two more steps forward. Like the other, it sniffed the air. When it brought its head back down, licking its lips, it was smiling.

Leo's eyes widened. _Shit_. _We _are_ next._

Placing one sword before him, he watched as, in the blink of an eye, the Ardor attacked him. Shrewdly, it went for the hand that wielded his weapon, biting hard.

The pain was sharp, Leo nearly dropped his swords in an attempt to pry off the creature. Refusing this inclination, he flipped one katana around in his free hand and brought the hilt down into the animal's back.

There was a loud and short bark of agony from it; opening its mouth, his hand was released. He had no time to recover, however, for in the next second, _both_ of the monsters were upon him; the one he'd just defeated going for his legs, knocking him down, as the one that had been forced out leaped onto his plastron and tried to rip out his throat.

Trying to pay less attention to the pain that was starting to explode in his shins, Leo focused on the beast that was breathing hot air in his face. He watched, one katana protecting his face, as it snapped its jaw open and closed, missing the turtle's jugular vein by mere inches because its opponent was able to put up a fight.

For now.

Angered by the ninja, the Ardor temporarily switched its focus from Leo's neck to his face, growling as if its noises were words; its way of saying 'sit still so you can die a long and agonizing death'.

Whether or not that was actually what it meant, it gave Leo the opportunity he needed. As soon as the creature moved, it left its neck in the clear. Seeing this, Leo brought his injured hand under his sword and gripped its neck. Feeling the windpipe beneath his fingers, he grit his teeth and squeezed.

It was a lot harder than it should have. As he'd learned earlier, these animals weren't just abnormally fast, they were freakishly strong. He was starting to believe that their built had something to do with this.

Skin feeling like a thick piece of leather, Leo was afraid he wouldn't be able to kill it. His hand, already weakened and bleeding, was tiring, but he put its last remaining strength into it and continued.

With the beast's remaining efforts, it tried to claw his face. Luckily, his katana kept it far enough away to prevent that. Just as Leo was beginning to believe that he might be losing this battle, he felt its windpipe collapse beneath his hand.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Leo turned from one problem to the next. Bringing his head up, he threw the dead Ardor to his right, hearing a sickening splash as it fell into the pool, and looked at the live one.

His struggles had prevented it from making a buffet out of his legs, but they still hurt like a bitch.

Oddly enough, the second the one creature left his grasp, its ally was chasing after it, pursuing it. Rolling over onto his stomach, Leo followed it with his eyes as it ran over to the pool.

From this vantage point, he couldn't see the blood- though he could smell it. The heat of the room made it nauseating, and the sight he was accompanied with made it worse.

Though the blood wasn't visible, a few other things were. The only reason why Leo even realized they were there was because of the Ardor, who, stopped by the pool, was nudging a lump in it tenderly with its nose. Leo at first thought it was going to feast upon it, but instead, it sat back, and, to his surprise, softly howled in mourning like a coyote. Leo almost felt sorry for it.

That was when he noticed that there were _other_ lumps in the pool. Because of his position, he couldn't tell what they were, but he had a good idea. Rage boiled in his chest, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.

He had more important things to think of right about now, like keeping himself alive long enough to make sure his brothers wouldn't be joining the eternal contestants of the butterfly stroke in the scarlet sea before him.

_That_ was the single, most important thing in the world to him right now. That was also partly why he was sympathizing with this beast right now. Leo had the feeling that it had been close to the one he'd just killed. It could very well have been its _own_ brother.

Though he hated to think about that, though it twisted his stomach into tight knots of fear and agony, he had to wonder if _his_ brothers were dead- if they'd been done away with in such a manner.

There was a high possibility of this. Since Leo had been last to leave the safety of their room, he had no idea as to where his family had run off to. He hadn't even seen them on his way here.

Were they hurt? Were they in pain? Were they _dead_? The questions assaulted him, injuring him more than the bites and abrasions on his body.

He _had _to find them.

This thought driving him, Leo placed his palms on the ground and easily brought himself up to his feet. Breathing heavily, but quietly, he started to leave.

His departure, however, seemed to have been noticed by the Ardor. It looked like his search might have to be put on a pause for the moment.

Green eyes narrowing to slits, it growled demonically and burst forward at high speed towards him.

Sighing, Leo cursed before moving over to the door of the room and forcing his wounded legs to proceed, thanking that they weren't in shreds. Soon, he too was running, trying more to lose the creature than to face it again.

Such a fight would result in more injuries, ones that might prevent him from helping his brothers. Before he dared to combat with these things again, he had to make sure that they were okay.

Behind the turtle, the Ardor was racing after him, making savage noises he could only relate to the fiercest of animals; predators that tore their prey limb for limb, even if they didn't need its meat for nourishment.

Rage was powering this beast now. Gone was the well-thought out precision of its actions, gone was the controlled vigilance of its demeanor. Patience had departed its body and left it filled with raw hatred and loss. It was possessed by the need for revenge and was willing to do the most brutal of deeds to get it.

Leo had the feeling that if he soon found out that his brothers had been killed in such a manner, he was going to follow that vicious path himself.

&&&&&

Evil, I know. I am so evil.

Ah, now only Mikey is left. What horror do I have in stow for him? Come back in ten days to find out!

And please review!


	8. We All Fall Down

Hi, everyone! I'm back with another chapter! Yay!

I'm really sorry! I was gonna have it up for you yesterday; I tried for several hours- but it just wouldn't work. I cried.

Seriously.

Anywyas- finally! The last (hopefully) of the short chapters! Also, probably the last of the gruesome ones, if you don't include the battle scene I'm editing for the next one.

A bit of info for you here: this was the very first chapter I ever planned. I was toying around with the idea of writing a horror fic in art class and I came up with the last half of this chapter.

After that, I just had to create all of the other ones!

So… here we are. Poor Mikey…

Oh, so you know, he's a bit farther away from everyone else here (check Stealthy Stories), so he didn't hear the glass or anything else.

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: You'd think that after seventy reviews explaining that I don't own the TMNT, people would realize that; hey, what do you know? I really _don't_ own them!

&&&&&

**New York City. November 26, 2306 AD. 11:53 AM.**

Strange and somewhat devious, the animal before him growled. But there was something about it that made Mike cringe. Back in his New York, the one safe and sound three hundred years into the past, he'd run into vicious creatures like these, and they'd growled too. Because each one was different, he'd come to learn that the _way _they did it meant something all on its own.

Like this one before him, for example. Despite the horror movies he watched religiously that medicated its viewers with an unhealthy dose of unreasonable paranoia, Mike always tried to live in the brighter side of life. But this thing was sending off heavy vibes of danger. All in the way it growled.

It did so, not _just_ angrily, as if he'd invade marked territory, but also _hungrily_, like it hadn't been fed in days and its primitive and savage instincts, rooted in its heart since birth, were taking over.

Sure enough, before the orange-clad turtle could even move, the beast was already upon him. One clawed hand raked over his leg, drawing two lines of blood, even as he executed a flip over its body.

Crying out, Mikey still landed perfectly. Pushing his shell up against the other side of the wall, he looked at his adversary. "Jeez, what did I ever do to you?"

The creature's response was to rush at him, mouth wide open, displaying its teeth for him once more.

Yelping once, Mike moved out of its range just in time. Somehow, his enemy realized that its prey had moved; it stopped just inches before it could slam into the wall. Immediately, it began to search him out.

Meanwhile, the young ninja was already beginning to bring himself away from it. Walking backwards, he froze when the animal suddenly whipped around in his direction, green eyes of malice boring into his.

His mind went to work on how he should handle the situation. _Okay, it looks like I can't talk my way out of this, like with Raph. Even if it looks like him. _A small little grin started to form on his face as he recalled how many times he could get out of a bad situation with his temperamental brother by simply annoying him.

The creature was already starting to come towards him, slowly this time, with cool calculation and a boiling lust for blood.

Mike's grin disappeared. No, this thing was in _no_ way whatsoever like Raph. As angry as his brother could get, not even he would be so hateful. In fact, he was usually just the opposite.

All of a sudden, Mike really wished he was here, along with Donny and Leo.

That was when the beast in front of him slowed down just a little bit. Then, the corners of its moth twitched. Like it was smiling.

Fingers quivering for just a moment, he forced them to stop as he took out his nunchucks and swung them around until they were moving at high-speed. Mike kept his eyes on the animal, trying to banish the thoughts that had abruptly popped into his head.

It was as if he'd spoken his desires for his brother out loud, and the creature had responded with that smile, saying that he'd never see them again.

The creature burst forward so quickly, he barely had time to defend himself. Much to his surprise, he was rewarded with the sound of his nunchuck connecting with the ribs of the animal; the oddly thick vibration that traveled through it into his hand once the wooden implement made contact.

Whimpering, the thing hit the ground and nevertheless landed on its feet. It was obvious that it had never come into contact with this kind of a weapon before.

Its whines quickly ceased however, and it quickly whipped its head back around to face the turtle.

Only he was gone.

The minute the creature was down, Mikey had moved speedily and as quietly as he could. Just around the corner, he found a door to another unexplored room. Opening it, he closed it gently and after finding a lock, turned it. Once he'd received the heavenly _click_, he positioned himself just to the right of the doorway, awaiting the sounds of his pursuer.

Eventually, the sound of breathing came just outside the door. Gentle, relaxed, but made with purpose. The animal was sniffing him out; much like that dog he'd originally thought it was when he'd run into it.

After a short while, it seemed to be debating something over in its head. Like to go in, or not to go in- it couldn't seem to decide.

Mike was beginning to wonder if it had caught on to his scent when it made up his mind. Growling frustratingly, it left; he could hear its heavy footsteps as it pounded further and further away.

Breathing out happily, Mike remained in his position for a little while longer, straining his hearing for any sound of its return. In this silence that was wrapped around him like a protective blanket, he would've heard anything.

But he didn't. It was gone.

Relieved, he turned around. The room was small, cluttered with all sorts of electronic devices. Mike frowned. Most likely, they worked just as well as the broken television that had been in their room.

Still, he decided to look around. To his left, sitting on a granite counter-top, was a wooden shelf, similar to a CD holder. It contained _hundreds_ of CD's or DVD's… or something else that hadn't been invented in the turtle's time yet.

Curiously, Mikey pulled out one of them. Examining the case, he flipped it over and over in his hands, searching for answers. He pulled out several more; all the covers appeared to be see-through. Each disc, a bit smaller than the ones he was used to, looked like a burned CD; each one was titled neatly, but obviously done in someone's handwriting.

It was funny. Unlike the TV, or some of the other unused items he'd seen here, these discs weren't dusty.

The orange-banded ninja, unable to find something that might play the information held within them, reluctantly put them back where he found them. Glancing at the counter-top that the shelf sat on, he noticed that a few more of the discs were strewn across it.

_Guess someone ran out of room._ He thought back to his own DVD's and CD's at home; there were times where it seemed he could never find enough room for them.

As he was about to move to the other side of the room, however, he paused. Attentively, he reexamined the evidence. _So why are some of the cases empty?_

After a few seconds of thought, he shrugged it off, once again thinking back to his own discs at home. Often, he'd end up losing one or two of them, only to find them in the oddest places later.

Besides a locked file cabinet, which he didn't feel like breaking into; he was a guest after all; there really wasn't much on the other side of the room. In fact, it looked like it had been _specifically _cleared out for more space, like when a person would move all their furniture aside so they would have room for floor exercises, or something.

Only, even if everything else here was even _more_ cluttered than the rest of the room, there probably would be room to walk and such. Unless someone had something else in mind for this place.

For some reason, as innocent and safe as it seemed, Mike kept on getting a bad feeling about his current hiding spot.

Back by the door, out of habit, he raised his hand to the light switch he'd discovered and pressed down upon it, waiting for the heavenly click that would banish his fears. Though it came, light did not follow.

Confused for a second, Mikey didn't recall how electricity was gone and all that remained was the eerie and mysterious blue light of the mansion until it pulsed for his pleasure once more. While it had captured his attention when he and his brothers had entered the building less than a day ago, it had since become part of the background, like the sound a refrigerator makes. He was barely aware of it.

He blinked. Out of nowhere, something else had become part of the background. Like that refrigerator, it was actually a sound, however, instead of a sight. Contrary to his nature, Michelangelo remained quiet until he could identify the noise.

It was a gentle humming- mechanical, not natural. He relaxed. After living with Donatello, he should've been able to recognize it immediately. It sounded like a computer starting up, without the beeps and other little noises. Just a soft and secure buzzing.

_But wait, _he thought, moving towards the origin of the noise, _how can a computer work when the electricity doesn't?_

After moving past the shelf, he moved a few of the other strange items aside, looking for the computer, or whatever it was. Eventually, he discovered it.

No bigger than your average system, it seemed dated. Yet, it looked so advanced; Mike had the feeling that his purple-banded brother would love to unravel all of its technological enigmas.

That was, if it _had_ any. Mike shook his head. Why did he have this feeling that it wasn't what it appeared to be?

His thoughts were suddenly confirmed. Because of the constantly flashing blue light, he hadn't noticed that the computer was producing a strange glow of its own. From each of its nooks and crannies radiated a forest green shade that extended only an inch, at the most.

Mikey cocked his head. "Okay… I wonder if it's supposed to do that…"

Suddenly, the screen came to life, like a self-checkout system at a grocery store. All that appeared was a simple question:

PLAY CURRENT MEMORY?

Below it, two boxes blinked. One contained the word YES, the other NO.

It really _was_ like the automated computer systems; where you could tap a button on a computer screen and it did as you waned it to… usually.

However, that wasn't what he was thinking about. It was the question. Now he was _really _confused. As far as the young turtle knew, memories were locked away in the brain. However, his mind quickly made sense of the inquiry. Thanks to camcorders, people could record interesting events of their lives and turn them into short movies; the could play them back and watch them over and over again.

Before he knew it, he'd pushed the button titled YES. Grimacing, Mike quickly tried to undo it, but couldn't figure out how. This was strange technology. Finally, he shrugged.

Hopefully, they were just home videos. Often times, as of lately, after pushing a button in a creepy place, he got things like final testimonies of people right before they were about to die.

After waiting for a few minutes, he decided that the odd computer really didn't work after all. He'd received nothing so far, and was rather happy about that.

Nodding, Mike recalled the creature he'd just faced. The safety of his brothers all of a sudden seemed threatened.

Ready to leave the room with every intention of rushing back to his room and explaining what he'd discovered, he turned around.

In the cleared space, on the floor, was a little girl, no older than seven.

For a moment, Mike had thought the girl was real; he'd almost spoken to her. However, she flickered in and out of existence abruptly then, her image was distorted for a short while only seconds after. Looking up, the orange-clad ninja noticed a mechanical device hanging from the ceiling. It was attached to the computer and positioned just above the girl.

She was a hologram.

Things started to click in his head. Not only was this a holographic image, it was, as he'd originally, thought, a recording.

But it was anything but cool.

The little girl, ginger skin dirty, brown hair, woven in two braids, tangled, had the saddest blue eyes Mikey had ever seen. Her face was tear-stained. Noticing that her lips were moving, he quickly turned back to the computer and tried to figure out how to turn up the volume so he could make out what she was saying.

This turned out to be simpler than canceling his previous action. There was a notch located on the side of the monitor. After turning it the right way, he was able to hear. He quickly recognized that she was singing, as well as the tune."

"_-'round the rosies…" _she stopped to sniff sadly; _"…a pock't full of posies… ashes…"_ her voice cracked. In her arms, Mike recognized that she held a teddy bear. She brought it closer to her chest. _"…ashes… we-"_

The sound of a door could be heard, gently opening and closing. Innocent eyes flickering up immediately, face fearful, the little girl gasped and scooted back into the wall. Desperately, Mikey tried to see what she was seeing, or had _seen_.

But he couldn't. Not yet.

A male voice sounded. It was somewhat familiar, but Mike couldn't place it right away. _"Hi, little Tory."_

The child bit her lip, new tears threatening to be shed. _"Where's my mommy? 'N my daddy?"_

Mike's eyes were suddenly drawn to the teddy bear she clutched. As she'd spoken, her arm had moved, revealing its face. Yes, the teddy bear _definitely_ seemed familiar. He'd just seen it, at the most, only an hour ago.

The room he'd discovered, just before he ran into the weird animal. There was a closet; within it, a teddy bear. It looked _exactly _like this one. He remembered the yellow and red finger-paint on its head; as this one bore.

Except… this one only wore yellow. No red.

Eyes widening, Mike took one step backwards. He was getting a bad feeling as to where this was heading.

The man that had entered finally responded. _"Ah… yes. Your paren's. Ya see, where I come from, Tory, we nev'r really haf paren's. We grow up followin' the head of our race and do only what he comman's. T'ose of the little g'oups we're put in b'come our fam'ly. So I understan' how horr'ble ya must feel."_

Tory, the little girl, looked uncomforted. She also seemed to know something that Mikey didn't. The turtle didn't want to continue watching, for fear of what might happen, but did so because he had to _know_.

He gulped. _C'mon, Mikey. You can do this._

He made sense of their words, despite the language drift. The man spoke again. _"When we lose a brot'er, so to spe'k, it kills us, deep 'nside. We mourn their loss… as you prob'ly will when I tell ya that your 'mommy 'n daddy' are dead."_

Mike's heart sank a little at that. He'd known, deep in his gut, that this wasn't going to turn out well. But you always hope.

Bursting into tears, Tory curled up in a ball, screaming for her parents. The man tisked. _"Now, is that any way to spen' your dyin' momen's?"_

He couldn't look away. The sweet, beautiful little girl was next. And this was all being _recorded._ Mike's eyes flickered to the stack of discs on the shelf. He doubted the rest of them were any better than this.

But the second he turned back to the recording, he froze. The man had come back into view.

He was none other than Nigel Callis.

Standing over the little girl, the old man, looking somewhat younger here, grinned, staring down at her.

Slowly, her cries grew quieter. Like a silent waterfall, tears streamed down her face as she met him eye to eye. Bringing the teddy bear closer than Mikey would've thought possible to her chest once more, she whispered a serious message, too serious for such a small child. _"I hope ya die, Ardor. I hope ya die real bad."_

Callis merely nodded. And then he did something Mikey hadn't expected. Slowly, he _transformed_- into the creature he'd just fought, or something that looked just like it.

Growling, he came forward towards the little girl. She screamed.

Turning around, Mikey immediately unlocked the door, images running through his mind though he'd seen none of what was about to unfold.

Out of the doorway, he bumped into something.

&&&&&

(sniffs) I'm sorry. I didn't want to do that to that poor little girl, but this was the whole plot line for the chapter. Sorry.

Well, I gotta go now. See you again in ten days!

Please review!


	9. The Offensive

(forcing self to write) (smacks head) What the heck is wrong with me? For some reason, I can't get myself to write this chapter. I have nearly all of it plotted out, but I've been avoiding it. Grr…

Hey, I still made my deadline. That might be because I'm writing this over a month before I posted it, but whatever. And I'm back on track! …Finally.

Now we can get to a long chapter! Yay!

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: I could tell you that I own the TMNT, but if I do, I might go to jail for a very long time. Therefore, I simply don't.

&&&&&

** New York City. November 26, 2306 AD. 12:18 PM. **

Screaming, fearing he'd run in to what he now knew to be a human-eating Ardor, Mike blindly took two steps back, running into the door that had closed partly. Pushed so fiercely, it had hit the wall hard enough to force it back the other way.

The holographic recording still playing, he could hear the screams of the little girl mingling with his own-

"Whoa, Mikey! Calm down! It's just me!"

The voice was familiar. _Very_ familiar. Doing as it commanded, Mikey realized it was his brother. Standing before him, a makeshift bandage attached to his left forearm, Raphael looked anxious, a rare thing to see in him.

With everything that had happened to the orange-clad ninja in these past twenty or thirty minutes, it was a major relief to see him at all. "Raph?" he said.

Before his brother could respond, Mike had moved forward, hugging him. Earlier, when facing his own Ardor, he'd gotten the vague suspicion that he wouldn't be seeing him or any of his brothers ever again. As he'd left this last room, that thought had resurfaced.

The sight of Raph was a major relief for his nerves.

And oddly enough, while on any other occasion, the red-banded turtle would probably protest to such a display of affection, he didn't this time. In fact, after a few seconds of enduring the younger one's tight embrace, he lightly returned it.

His eyes and ears must've found the door Mike had just come out of. "What's in there?" he asked, breaking them apart.

The youngest shook his head. "Dude, you don't wanna know."

With the anger in his eyes, directed not at Mike, but at something else, he could see that, for a moment, Raph _did_ want to know. In fact, he almost headed for the door. That was when he abruptly stopped. Turning his head, he looked at him and nodded in agreement.

If it weren't for the circumstances, Mikey probably would've rubbed this in his face for a good hour or two. It wasn't often someone concurred with him.

Raph came back over to him. "Ya seen Don or Leo?"

Mike shook his head. "Un-uh. I just came out of there." He paused. "I'm taking that you haven't seen them either?"

That anxious quality back in his expression, Raph shook his head.

Once again, Mikey thought of that horrible feeling he'd had earlier…

&&&&&

He'd gone back the way he'd came. Body aching, spirit worried over his brothers, and senses on edge, Leo looked behind him. The Ardor wasn't in sight.

Finding it hard to believe that he'd lost it, the blue-clad turtle looked around before flipping himself back in his original direction, performing the previous action. _Nothing…_ Remembering his first encounter with the creatures, he immediately turned his head up.

A cerulean-white flash illuminated the ceiling at that very second, as if to reflect his thoughts; there wasn't anything above him.

Frowning, Leo slowed down just a little, mind still heavily on guard. His eyes took in every detail- nothing threatening. His ears listened for any warnings- none came. His nose was working to find that heavy trace of blood it had found that accompanied his predator- but it was absent.

It was strange; knowing where the enemy was, even if it was right in your face, for some reason sounded more appealing than having them far away and _not_ knowing.

And then he heard a soft sound coming from behind him. Like a bark.

Flipping around immediately, drawing his katanas even as he did so, what Leo found _wasn't_ what he'd been expecting to see.

Lowering one sword, he stared in disbelief. "Don?"

About ten feet away from him stood the turtle in purple. He nodded. "Hey, Leo."

Suppressing the urge to reprimand him right there and then about leaving, the leader asked him the main question he'd been pondering over, for Don as well as his other brothers- whereabouts still unknown. He put one sword away, keeping only its twin in his uninjured hand. "You okay?"

It took him a few seconds to respond. Leo wondered what _he_ must have seen. "Yeah, 'm all right. _You're_ bleedin'."

After living with this turtle for sixteen years, the eldest knew him backwards and forwards; well enough, anyways. Yet he was acting a little strangely now. Though Leo tried to push the thought to the back of his mind, part of it remained at the head of his focus.

He nodded, watching as Don came closer to him. The memory of the Ardors played themselves out again. "Ran into some trouble. I think those aliens Callis mentioned are here." Leo shivered, recalling how viciously intelligent they were. "They practically ripped me apart! Have you seen them?"

Don stopped about five feet away from him. "Uh-huh." He answered affirmatively.

Leo was about to go into his whole plan of locating Raph and Mikey when he noticed something. Growing up with his brothers meant seeing them on essentially an everyday basis. Because of this, he'd long ago committed to memory the fact that all four of them had brown eyes.

Yet the Donatello before him had green eyes.

Exactly like the ones he'd seen in the two Ardors.

Apparently realizing it had been found out, his tracker shed its disguise and leapt at him, hitting Leo square in the chest. He'd just been trying to process the fact that these Ardors could shape-shift when he had to switch over to defending his life once more.

Throwing the Ardor off of him, Leo heard that barking sound again. Turning back around, he found the face of the creature, smooth and furrowed, framed by thick black hair, was transforming into that of a human face.

Once completed, Leo recognized it. It was one of Callis' servants; one he'd only met briefly. With heavy eyelids covering those peridot eyes, the face of Carl looked up at him. Before, he had seemed uninterested in everything that was going on. Now, his face was twisted in hatred.

"Ya haf put up a hard fight, turtle. But ya made the mist'ke of killin' my kin. Now, not only will ya die, but I will feed upon ya while you're still alive!"

Seconds later, the face had turned back into that of the Ardor. He came at him, mouth wide open.

Shifting to the side, Leo barely escaped with his neck. Simultaneously, he made a fist with his good hand and swung his arm, hitting the alien creature in the shoulder.

It had little, if no, effect.

The Ardor came at him again. Leo moved once more. He knew he couldn't keep this up forever, especially low on the ground. But with the animal's speed, he didn't have a chance to get to his feet.

With every spare second he had, he looked for an opening in the Ardor's attacks, only to find each one in his vantage point close in seconds, forcing him to turn back to the ultimate task at hand: staying alive.

How badly he wanted to take his katana to the creature, knowing what his plans were. The Ardor was reasonably angry that Leo had slain his relative, but he had set out wanting to maim and feed upon the turtle's.

Somewhere, between this current battle and his worries, that strange thought kept passing through his head. _You started it._

Suddenly, the beast that had shared an existence in a human body that responded to the name 'Carl' pulled back one of its arms; two claws began to lower themselves closer to Leo's body.

Then, a familiar staff of wood was hooked in the crook of its armpit. Olive green, the turtle before him used the opportunity, kicking the Ardor directly in the chest and sending him back a good fifteen feet or so.

Wasting no time, Leo got to his feet. Katana still in hand, he drove it into the creature's chest without thinking twice, piercing the Ardor to the ground while red blood spilled from the wound.

Two, maybe three twitches. Then all life left it.

Leo stood there for five seconds; breath quick and eyes fixed on the mess before him, hands gripping his sword. _There are always other choices; more paths to follow than murder. _

He felt a hand lightly touch his shoulder. Turning his head, he noticed Donatello to his left, looking at him solemnly. Leo searched his eyes before breathing out a sigh of relief, matter of his right as an executioner silenced for now. _Brown_.

Taking his sword out of the cadaver, Leo kept it in his hand. If the Ardors were to come around again, he wanted his weapon beside him. The blue-clad turtle had learned from these battles; he couldn't afford to waste even a second to unsheathe his katanas.

Not seeing anything he could clean it with at the moment, he turned to his brother, keeping his eyes on the Ardor, in case it had other surprises up its hairy sleeve. "You seen these things?"

Don nodded. "Killed one earlier. Leo… you won't believe what they've done- what they _do_."

Nodding, Leo started moving, both he and Don ready to search for their brothers. "Try me."

&&&&&

The whole way to their unknown destination, Raph kept his hands close to his sais. While he and Mikey occasionally spoke in hushed tones along the trip, he kept his eyes on every nook they passed, in every hallway they moved by and through.

When he would take a second to check on his younger brother, he noticed that Michelangelo was doing likewise.

Feeling anger rising in his chest, Raph forced himself to keep it in check. But the fact that, in only a matter of one, maybe two hours, these Ardors had managed to scare the living daylights out of them; in some instances, nearly killed them, sobered Raphael fairly quickly.

For all they knew, the strange creatures _had_ killed their brothers. The red-banded turtle didn't want to think of that possibility, but the fact that it existed remained.

_Leo's a good fighter, and so's Don. They can take care of themselves; they have before tons of times. They'll be fine._

That was, of course, when he heard a familiar and dreaded growl behind them.

Suppressing a sigh of disgusted exasperation, he and Mike turned slightly to see the ugly hairball, snarling fiercely, eyes gleaming brutishly. It was coming towards them slowly, as if waiting to see how its prey would react so it could better plan its assault.

Every time he saw them, Raph couldn't help but discover a deeper hatred for the Ardors.

Fingering the handles of his weapons, he looked at Mikey, keeping an eye on their foe out of the corner of his vision. "What do you wanna do?" He asked him, whispering.

The orange-clad turtle grinned nervously. "Have tea and cookies?"

Raph resisted the urge to smack him upside the head. After all, he knew this was how Mike was dealing with these issues that had just sprung into their life. Nevertheless…

Glaring, he got straight to the point. "I say we split this freak down the middle." He flipped out a sai to emphasize this.

His brother cringed. "Dude… I don't even wanna _think_ about that right now."

Sighing mentally, Raph nodded. The image of the little girl, illustrated for him from his brother, was probably still fresh in Mike's mind; though he hadn't 'seen it', it was on the temperamental ninja's too, along with that memory of the eviscerated man.

He hadn't given Mike all the details on that, for obvious reasons.

"Well I'm tired of runnin'. They ain't gettin' the upper hand on us, Mike."

"I'm kinda getting the feeling that they will when we're _dead_ and going through their digestive systems!"

Now _that_ was something _he_ didn't want to think about. Frowning, Raph lowered his voice further. "Fine." He agreed, grudgingly. "We run. _But_, if it catches up, we're taking it down."

After a nod from the youngest, the two simultaneously took off, feet rapping on the floor as quietly as possible. Not even a second later, Raph could hear the Ardor's claws tapping against it as well, heading after them in a burst of speed.

Soon, the red-banded turtle felt as if they were going in circles. Or rectangles, considering that that was how the hallways were shaped.

Making sure they didn't take any more left turns, Raph could still hear the Ardor gaining on them. Looking at Mike, who was just a mere inch behind him, he made sure that his younger brother knew what to do.

At the next corner, instead of rounding it, they came to a stop, and, flipping around, drew their weapons. Though he didn't think the Ardor would've cared much about running into them, he'd learned that it _really_ knew the dangers of a weapon- more so, the hazards of those who knew how to _use _them.

Screeching to a halt, the alien was still unable to get out of reach of one of Michelangelo's nunchuck, catching it right on its ankle.

Hissing the Ardor backed up. Raph would've thought it'd be down- _at least_ limping a little, but it was walking perfectly. It reminded him of an animal that had stepped on a rock. It was sore, but could walk just fine.

Well, that sucked.

Angered, the Ardor snapped its mouth, charging at them again, though slower now. It was planning its movements in order to evade their weapons.

Luckily, this very part of its strategy gave Raph the chance to launch an attack of his own. As quickly as possible, he fired one sai at the target, praying this battle would be different from the one earlier.

Like before, the creature moved to avoid being hit. But this time, it wasn't fast enough. Hitting its knee deeply, drawing blood, his sai flew out of the Ardor's flesh and landed in a wall while the alien went down, howling in pain.

Grinning, Raph was quick to move forward, being careful of his wounds, and claim his weapon before the thing could get back up. By the time he had it, he was surprised to find that it wasn't already to its feet.

This just made his grin grow wider.

Walking over to it, he was just about ready to finish it when Mike grabbed him. Expression serious, he shook his head. "Raph, we aren't murderers."

Every once in a very great while, he and his brothers had killed something or someone. But that was only when they absolutely had to. The creature was more than likely finished for now; at the very least, it wouldn't be chasing after anybody again. Raph had to admit, they didn't _have_ to kill the Ardor.

But that didn't stop him from delivering a hard kick to its ribs when Mike wasn't looking.

Or, so he thought. Grinning once again, he turned to find his younger brother staring at him. Yet, he surprised him by shrugging. "I guess it _does_ deserve that." Walking up to it, Mikey dealt a final blow, knocking it unconscious. "We can put it in 'Leo terms'. We merely 'incapacitated' it. Right, Raph?"

The ninja smirked. "Exactly. It'll probably never walk again, but we didn't kill it."

_Even if I wanted to. _He had to confess, going through this messed-up mansion, witnessing these evil things; it wasn't half as bad with Mikey here. That was probably the first time he _could_ admit to his little brother easing his nerves.

But the fact that they had yet to awaken from this hellish nightmare just heightened them once more.

That turned out to work to their advantage for, at that point, one more growl resonated in their ears. Only it wasn't from the unconscious Ardor lying on the ground. It came from the left.

&&&&&

As it turned out, Leo had had no more of a jovial time that Donny had. Unfortunately, that obviously didn't calm the purple-clad turtle any, for this implied that these Ardors really _were_ the cannibalistic horrors he'd thought they were.

Occasionally, he and Leo would speak as they continued their search, mostly about what they should do if they encountered another Ardor- or several. But for the most part, they were on the lookout, silently watching each other's backs.

The dreaded thought that their brothers could very well be dead was as sobering as it was frightening. Unfortunately, there _was_ a chance that all they now had left was each other.

Don didn't want to think about that.

Another hallway passed and cleared, he looked down and noticed Leo's leg. It seemed to be coated in layers of red paint. "Did you…?"

Leonardo had told him some of what he'd seen, such as the _pool_ he'd discovered. But Don felt that a few details had been left out.

After all, he hadn't exactly told _his_ full story either. Some things were better not to recall. Perhaps they'd be able to go into this another day, when they could handle it with stronger stomachs.

If they made it to another day.

Merely glancing at his leg, Leo nodded. "Yeah. Didn't really realize it was behind me until I was falling into it." He explained in a low voice.

The purple-banded ninja checked another corridor. "We'll have to keep an eye on it. Those cuts can get infected."

Nodding again, Leo checked behind them. "How are yours?" He asked, indicating to Donatello's own wounds.

With a grimace, he stopped momentarily to check on his foot and leg wound. The bleeding had stopped by now, but they were still sore. "They hurt a little, but I'll live."

Leo looked him over and seemed to, after some time, reach the same conclusion. "All right- but you should keep an eye on those yourself." He said, turning his attention back to the hallways- infinite hiding spaces for the demonic creatures they'd seen.

As if on cue, that sound he'd grown all too accustomed to in the past few hours sounded behind them.

For a fraction of a second, their feet were glued to the floor, eyes widening.

In the next, they were launching forward, taking twists and turns, looking for their pursuer, all the while hoping their erratic actions would lose it.

Guilt laced in his voice, Leo kept his katana close. "I checked that hallway. I swear it was clear."

"It's okay, Leo." Don told him quickly. "Everything isn't always your fault." He assured him.

He wanted to make sure his brother knew that.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Leo turn to him, a small smile of surprise and relief etched into his features.

It quickly turned into one of alarm. "Don, watch out!"

Turning his head back to his left, the purple-banded turtle noticed a black blur racing them across the _wall_, teeth gleaming in the blue light. He'd barely had a chance to register this when it leapt out at him, hitting him in the plastron and knocking him into Leo.

Slamming into the opposite wall, the two barely had enough time to roll out of the way. Where they had been was now marked with an eight-inch gash in the wall, deep and wide enough to run your fingers through.

Their current position now made running an impossible alternative. By the time they got to their feet, the Ardor would be feasting on their intestines.

That left fighting. Don was tired of being left with this option. While these creatures deserved to have an unhealthy serving of ass whooping delivered to them on a silver platter, it was wearing them out each time.

They had no idea how many of these things were lurking around. Worn down enough, they could very well lose the next battle- depending on whether or not they survived _this_ one. The Ardor currently held the upper hand.

It was a good thing they had their weapons out. Eyes determined, position steady, Leo stared at the Ardor, single and bloody katana before him. If Don knew his brother, he knew that the blue-clad turtle would be drawing his second one the minute he had the opportunity.

Getting up slowly on one knee, Don tightened his grip on his bo staff. The broken end of it reminded him of how strong these Ardors were; he hoped it would suffice.

It charged forward without warning. Leo jumped up while Don crouched down. From his location, he was easily able to ram his staff up into the alien's belly. This affected its momentum, practically bringing it down to the ground at that very second.

Above him, Leo used his katana to slice at its backside. While Don's blow had given him an easier target, it had also changed its trajectory. Instead of seriously wounding the Ardor, Leo ended up only cutting it- like a steak knife's first try on a piece of wood.

Nevertheless, the wound obviously had stung. Hissing, it spun back around, slower this time, as the eldest turtle came down, landing perfectly.

As Don had anticipated, his brother drew his second blade.

They had only enough time to stand before the Ardor was at them again, with less cunning than earlier, however. It was attacking in anger. As it flew at them, the two shifted to the side, letting it pass. Don swung his bo staff hard at it as it did so, hitting it on the backside. Luckily, his staff didn't break.

Before it could come back for the next round, he and Leo had set off again. By no means were they afraid of fighting. They just knew that there was more to come. If they could get away and maintain their strength, they had better chances of defeating these things, not to mention living.

After going a ways, they took the risk of slowing down to listen for their enemy, all the while continuing to back up slowly.

Silence.

And then, he felt something hit him from behind. Not at full force, or _any_ force for that matter, he'd bumped into something. Spinning around simultaneously with Leo, he got a surprise.

Weapons ready, his two other brothers faced them. Immediately, relief flushed their faces; Donny was somewhat aware of the same thing happening to him.

From their condition, clawed and bruised, they already knew of these Ardors. At least, Don hoped there wasn't another threat they had to worry about.

The sound of a second Ardor coming from behind Raph and Mikey settled that debate. Seconds later, their own Ardor made its presence known with a growl.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a door, hinges screeching. He turned to find Leo holding one open to their right. "Here, everyone get inside!" He told them.

Mike held his hands up. "Dude, so far, doors number one and two haven't worked out too well for us. Trust me on-"

Interrupting him, Leo grabbed his arm. "Neither have doors three and four. But I bet it's a _lot_ better than staying outside."

Once all four of them were in, they closed it immediately. As Leo turned the lock, Raph came up from behind him, holding a chair, and placed it under the handle. He looked at them. "I ain't takin' any chances."

Seconds later, the Ardors began slamming against it.

Turning, Don examined the room. It beat the last place he'd seen. Long and with hardwood floors, he guessed that it had originally been a dining room, or perhaps a ballroom. He couldn't be sure; the walls were completely covered in panes of glass, like a funhouse.

Whatever it had been, now it seemed to serve under an entirely different purpose. Arranged neatly, various technology was placed around the room.

Seeing his expression, Mike stood in front of him. "You might wanna be careful with this stuff, bro. The last thing I messed with didn't exactly do what I expected."

"From what I've seen, _nothing's_ been going as expected. You okay?"

The orange-clad turtle nodded. "Good enough. But Don, I got some weird news for ya."

As they moved around, they went through the process of swapping stories and revealing what they'd learned. Michelangelo's news, however, was the most shocking.

"Callis?" Don asked. "He barely looks like he could be a threat to a little fly, much less anything else."

"I'm telling you," Mikey repeated, "he's _so_ an Ardor."

Examining some of the machinery, Leo shook his head, obviously angry. "Appearances can be deceiving." He nevertheless muttered calmly.

Raph pounded one fist into his hand like a catcher's mitt. "So how're we gonna fight these things?" He asked eagerly. "They shape-shift, they're strong, and real fast. Anyone got a plan to kick the crap outta them yet?"

Leo folded his arms over his plastron and stared at the floor. "It's difficult to make a good plan when your enemy's unpredictable." Donny could tell that he wasn't liking this.

Of course, who would?

Glancing down, Don was intrigued by what he found on the computer monitor before him. It reminded him of one of the big consoles on _Star Trek_.

At the top of the screen, it seemed to enlist coordinates. A theory that was widely spread about alien races was that, while their languages could be, and probably were, legions apart, species would share the concept of mathematics, at least simple calculations, anyways.

Donatello was starting to believe that this had just been proven, along with some of the higher functions of it, like methods of positioning. Several numbers in the string he'd yet to place, but the last few made perfect sense.

Besides numerals, they were accompanied by degrees. They measured latitude and longitude. Don did the math in his head and realized that the coordinates were about, or possibly, _exactly_ where they were.

Scanning down the rest of the screen, he examined what other mysteries that lay before him. It was a collection of certain lines and markings. Judging by the way certain figures were repeated, he guessed them to be a language.

Looking them over so many times he'd practically memorized them, the curiosity in him begging to crack it, Don was pulled away by a sigh from the leader of the group. "Let's get ready." He said, eyes breaking the room down into a battlefield.

Outside the door, the pounding had become more fierce, almost desperate. He could hear them working on several attempts.

And from the sound of it, they had gotten some friends along to help.

&&&&&

When the noise grew louder, the turtles spread out amongst the room, close enough to help each other, but far back enough to hold the element of surprise.

Mike was a little closer to the door, but well hidden behind some of the machinery. He'd positioned himself so it wouldn't be in the way.

He was _not_ looking forward to another one of these brawls. All he could think about was the fate of that poor little girl. The orange-banded ninja had to remind himself that _she'd_ been defenseless, and he was _not_, by any means.

The situation began to unfold. Angrily, the Ardors had begun scratching at the frame of the metal door. Since it was wood, it was coming apart easily enough, though very slowly. Yet they concentrated on a particular area; eventually, a hole the size of his fist was made next to it.

In the darkened room, even when the blue light flashed, Mike and his brothers shouldn't have been visible. At least, that's what he hoped.

He watched as a long arm, coated in thick, black hair was placed through the hole. With as much force as it could make, given its limited space, it tapped the chair Raph had put up to knock it over. When it fell, the hand retreated.

There was a click, like a lock being undone. The handle turned, and in came three Ardors at the feet of a wolf in sheep's clothing. Callis looked around the room. "Ya found out our s'cret rather early, turtles." He said quietly. "We commen' ya. Of course, ya also took down sev'ral of our kin. For that, your deaths won't be as peac'ful." Mike noticed how his green eyes shined in the dark like an animal's. Then he bent down. "Let's get dinner ready." He whispered to his 'kin'.

The three animals spread out like wildfire, searching for them. Oddly, they were careful of the computers, gentler around them than the rest of the room, which they spared no mercy.

Then came a loud snarl, which was followed by a war cry from his hotheaded brother. Raph came out, sais moving with their own anticipation. The other two Ardors came to fight him as well, though a little more cautiously.

But they weren't slow enough. From the same side Raph had emerged from, Leo came forth, katanas ready.

Mike, who was opposite of him, watched his brother's back, allowing him to help while he made sure Callis didn't pull any tricks out of his sleeve while Leo was distracted.

The old man just stood there, a small grin on his face. "Do ya really know what you're dealin' with, boy?"

He didn't give Mike the time to answer. Simply rushing forward, Callis began his assault. He was much stronger than he looked, strikes aimed towards the youngest turtle's legs, mostly out of the reach of his nunchucks to strike efficiently. He kept on forcing Mike back until he was part of Raph and Leo's battle.

Donny came out of nowhere, landing on top of an Ardor Mike could feel close to his reptilian skin. Flipping over his little brother, he joined him in helping fight Callis, swinging his bo staff at him.

To both of their surprises, the alien caught it. Before they could recover, he had it out of the purple-clad ninja's hands and in his own. He swung it full force at Mike's right arm.

Crying out, he could feel a bone break. In pain, he dropped one nunchuck and fell to the ground; he could see the remains of Don's staff in front of him- it was in pieces.

Said brother was defending him now. Groaning, Mikey tried to get up and back into the fight- he couldn't let his brothers fight alone.

That's when he felt the claws and teeth of an Ardor cutting into both his good _and_ injured arm. It didn't last long though. He could hear Raphael. "Get the _hell_ off my brother!"

The creature practically flew off Mikey and under one of the consoles.

Gently, but quickly, Raph helped him up. "Ya okay, bro?" He asked.

Mike groaned. "No." He answered truthfully.

There was no time for hugs and kisses. Immediately they were back into the fight.

Behind him, he heard Don yell. Fearfully, he turned, expecting to see his brother dead. Instead, he found that he'd gotten an opening and had kicked Callis square in the chest, sending him back.

Leo and Raph did about the same thing with the other two. Breathing heavily, the four of them prepared for the next attack.

Instead, the Ardors disappeared.

&&&&&

Tensing, Raphael scanned the room, searching for those hairy little demons. He looked at Leo who nodded, seemingly sharing his thoughts.

If they could shape-shift, who was to say they couldn't camouflage themselves too?

Keeping focused on what was going on around them, the four began to back up into the center of the room, so nothing could strike them from behind. Donny behind him, Mike, shaking slightly and bleeding, though not too heavily, to his right, and Leo to his left.

Suddenly, a small spot of the room seemed to shift right before him. Before he could say a word, he could feel a clawed hand strike at him, cutting him open deeply right beneath his plastron.

The pain was intense; he dropped to his knees. The warm feeling of blood spilled down his legs. Looking at it, Raph was relieved that there wasn't as much as there had seemed.

Leo was immediately in front of him, fighting the Ardor, which had since shown itself. He was moving as quickly as he could to block the beast's strikes, keeping them both safe, but Raph could see that he was getting tired.

Don and Mikey, meanwhile, were each dealing with an Ardor of their own. The youngest was doing especially well, considering his injuries.

Groaning, Raph tried to push himself up. That was when one of the creatures blasted forward under Donny's legs, knocking him off balance, and rammed into Raph's own left leg- hard. He heard it crack.

Screaming in pain, he fell back to the ground. Flipping around, Leo threw a shuriken at it. The weapon missed, unfortunately, but it was close enough to drive the Ardor back.

Apparently, during all this, he'd kicked the other Ardor away. Mike had also managed to defeat his- it lay before him on the floor, trying to get up.

Leo took a few steps backward, looking for the only player left.

That's when Raph saw the form of a man appear behind him before it abruptly changed into something monstrous.

&&&&&

Leo heard Raph's warning at the exact same second that he felt the teeth dig into his right shoulder like it was a thick piece of steak. Raising his hand, he prepared to hit Callis, who truly was an Ardor after all with his katana.

He bit down harder.

The pain was intense; he'd never felt anything like it- not even when he'd been ambushed by the Foot. Deeper and deeper the teeth went into his skin. Reflexively, his hands opened, dropping his swords as his knees buckled.

It seemed that Callis had a bad grip on him, though Leo couldn't imagine that with how fixed he was to him with his jaw. But seconds later, adding to his pain, he felt the claws of the alien's hind feet dig deep into his side.

The teeth went even farther, starting inches from his neck and ending near his scapula. He could feel them tear through his muscles, felt them finally scrape against bone; any tighter and he felt the teeth would crush his entire shoulder.

Agonized screams, tearing at the world around him, slowly dwindling down to muffled cries. It wasn't until then that he recognized the sounds as his own.

Pain. _So much _pain.

Through it, he suddenly became aware of his brothers' attempts to help him. Raph must've given Don one of his sais, for both were armed now. Carefully, so as not to hit their elder brother, Raph was getting ready to slice off Callis' legs and Don to hit him in the spine, if only it would pry him off Leo.

Don didn't even have to do his part. The second Callis felt the tip of the blade in his leg, he released Leo, jumping far back into the shadows and disappearing.

Helped up by Mikey, Raph, barely able to keep his position, and the younger turtle watched out for the Ardor while Leo slowly became aware of Don's presence before him.

"Leo?" Don called out anxiously to him, holding him gently by his good shoulder. "C'mon, Leo, talk to me."

His entire right side was in inexpressible torment; his shoulder sent him in tears of pain at the slightest twinge. Leo felt like he was going to pass out. "…Oh God." He said, not even perceiving his own words, taking in deep breaths.

That's when he heard Raph and Mikey lose their part of the battle, hitting the ground unconscious, but still alive. Don got up, still trying to help him while aiding their brothers, when he was suddenly rammed out of the way, hitting his head hard on the edge of a metal console.

Looking up, worried, Leo tried to fight through the pain to get to him, but felt a hard kick to his ribs that knocked him down to the ground. He felt something give, and then everything went black.

&&&&&

Breathing heavily, Callis looked around at the four still bodies before him and his kin. The battle had been fierce, fiercer than any other he'd known, but they too had fallen.

The alien grinned.

One of his kin approached him, turning into its human form. Ella's skin was bruised, but that was nothing some time in a healing chamber couldn't fix. She looked at him worriedly. "Callis, ya must be careful about your shape-shiftin'. With your sit'ation, ya can only 'ford to r'vert back to your orig'nal form to feed."

In his Ardor form, he could speak telekinetically with his kin. But trapped in this human body, he had to speak in wretched tongue. "It was nec'sary." He frowned. "Take 'em to the feedin' room and get the Trics. We may need 'em. And…" he stared longingly at all the blood oozing from their bodies before sighing, "And clean 'em up- give 'em a shot of Interim. We can't have 'em bleed to death. They must be able to _feel_, to _understan'_ the pain of being eaten alive."

With a wince, he glanced down at his own wounds. Only on one occasion, once before, had anyone even managed to touch Callis. Now, he was hurting more than he had since the Judgement Day.

He shook his head. "I'll go to a healin' chamber, maybe rest 'n 'cuperate for a little while."

Grinning, Callis headed out of the room as Ella returned to her natural form. "And then, we'll feast."

&&&&&

Okay, first I'd like to say that the part with the Ardor impersonating Don was _very_ difficult to write, so I'm sorry if it sucked. I don't have it in me to make evil turtles, even if that's not truly what they are in the first place. It may have been for only a short time, but it took me thirty minutes to do it!

Oh, and Interim is a small drug I invented. It slows down blood loss and prevents against any further internal damage. It doesn't heal, though. Like Callis said, he just wants to intensify their agony when it comes to feeding time.

Now, if anyone's confused about the Ardors, let me explain. There's a grand total of eight of them, including Callis, who's the leader of them. When they were on their own, Don faced two different Ardors and killed one; Raph faced the same two Ardors and killed the other. Leo faced two, killed one in his chapter, and then killed the other (Carl) in this chapter, with the assistance of Donny. And Mikey only faced one, which is still alive.

So basically, we still have four Ardors left: Callis, and three of his minions. Two of them are Ethan and Ella, and the other's just a lower ranked Ardor.

I'll go into more detail about this in my corner of Stealthy Stories. It will be in my OC profiles.

I hope you enjoyed! Please review!


	10. Storyteller

(taps foot) Okay, I'm gonna let you guys in on something. Remember how when I started this, I said I knew it would be _exactly_ twelve chapters?

So you know, my beta reader laughed at me on that; said I would no doubt make it longer. I said no way. It would definitely be twelve.

Okay, it's gonna be longer. But not because I can't fit it into twelve! I can! But, I got a review for this last chapter that basically said that it had moved kinda fast rather suddenly. I thought about it and realized that this reviewer was correct.

While we all enjoy long chapters, it's no fun if the story's over like that (snaps). Besides, it's horror. (Grins) Gotta have more suspense! (laughs)

But, choosing to be obnoxious in this situation, it will _not_ be fourteen chapters, like Janajyo guaranteed I'd make it! It'll be fifteen! Ha-ha! (sticks tongue out)

Anyways, back to the story. Now remember! We're back to the present time; where the first chapter left off. Now, Callis has them, leaving two Ardors to stand guard.

I hope you enjoy!

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: I guess the stars I've been wishing on aren't the right ones, 'cause the TMNT still ain't mine.

&&&&&

**New York City. November 27, 2306 AD. 3:27 AM. **

Sitting absolutely still, head tilted to one side, Don briefly wondered if he had a concussion. Half the time, everything going on made little sense; it was all jumbled up. He felt sick, and he was _very_ tired.

If he _did_ have a concussion, he knew it was important to stay awake. Problem was, Donny could barely even remember that and thus often nearly drifted off. He had no idea what kept bringing him back to that semi-awake state.

But now, the purple-clad turtle had something to occupy his mind with. That alien code he'd seen in that last room kept flashing through his head. He'd looked it over so many times there that he could now recall it as perfectly as if he had a photographic memory.

Foreign symbols danced about before him, an intergalactic cryptogram waiting to be translated. Even in moments when unconsciousness began to descend upon him for another short period or two, it was there.

And that was how, eventually, in some manner he couldn't comprehend, Don managed to make sense of it. Put in English, his own terms, he was allowed to understand how he and his brothers had come to be here- in a somewhat dazed way, anyhow.

But, more importantly, he was given further insight as to why their _enemy_ was here, as well as what they were doing.

Smiling slightly, Don again wondered about that concussion even as he slipped into another odd slumber.

&&&&&

God, his leg hurt. Actually, everything hurt- the leg, as broken as it had been ten minutes ago, had just become the current focal point of his pain; for the time being, anyway. There was a good chance it would change in the minutes to follow.

At least forty of them had passed since Mikey had awoken; Raph wouldn't doubt that it had been over an hour, considering that that was how it felt. Thankfully, neither of them had broken any of the Ardors' unspoken rules, and thus, remained conscious.

However, there had been no change in Donny or Leo- as far as he knew, at least. Raph was growing more concerned with each second.

But as far as he could tell, both were still breathing. And that would always be a good thing in his book.

During their wait, Raph's mind was divided between so many things. He and Mikey didn't talk much. Most of what they had to say dwelt on their current situation, which was, obviously, by no means pleasant. Nearly everything else involved how they were going to get out of this mess, something they _certainly_ weren't about to discuss in front of their captors. Even a bonehead like Casey Jones would've understood the reasoning behind that.

Though they didn't speak of these things, their thoughts were definitely spent upon them. The silence did nothing to help this, either; rather, it fueled them, leaving Raphael between these conceptions, accompanied with those of his fury at the Ardors, vivid imaginings of revenge against them, and an intense worry for his and his brothers' lives, worthy of that of his unconscious leader's own anxiety. He wondered what levels Leo's would reach were he awake now.

And of course, underlying all of these thoughts was the perception of that agonizing pain. Always pain.

"Hey, Raph?" Mikey whispered lowly.

Just as softly, Raph replied, "Huh?"

"Nothin'." Mike said, sounding a tad bit happier. "Just wanted to make sure you were still with me."

It didn't take long to figure out what that met. Besides wanting them all to be well enough to get out of here, as did Raph, Mike also didn't want to be alone.

And to be honest, in this place, neither did he.

Another few minutes passed, feeling like ten. Working his brain at its hardest, Raph tried to figure out an escape plan. So far, he had nothing.

To his left, a quiet groan sounded, followed by an even softer whimper. Turning, his head, hearing Michelangelo do the same, he looked at Leo, who had since shifted his own.

Never had he heard that sound come out of their older brother.

They watched the blue-clad turtle in the darkness, looked even closer when the mysterious light flashed. Little by little, he fidgeted; little by little, he clearly hurt more and more.

Careful not to break a rule, not when they were nearly all together, in mind, anyways, Raph reached his hand over and placed his hand on top of Leo's wrist, shaking it gently. "Leo? C'mon, bro, wake up."

Groaning, half-opening his eyes, the ninja looked around before finding his brothers. He breathed out, then winced at the pain it brought to his ribs. "I was hoping this was just a _really_ bad dream." He mumbled slowly.

Trying to see him without lifting his head, Mikey responded, "Yeah, me too."

Raph seconded that feeling, but didn't say anything. Within an hour or so, Leo looked about ten times worse. Heck, so did Mikey. He could only imagine how he himself appeared.

The eldest smiled when hearing Mike's voice. The younger of the four had been unconscious again by the time he'd woken up the first time. "Hey, Mike. You okay?"

"What do _you_ think?" The youngest said sarcastically, smirking.

"I guess that's a no." Leo looked back at Raph. "Don?"

Stretching his neck, Raph whispered. "I don't know- I still can't see." Just before his brother raised his head to look again, he gave him the same explanation he had for Mikey, saving the leader from another, short electrocution.

Understanding, Leo turned his head, careful not to lift it off the table, and looked at their remaining brother. "Don?" Raph heard him whisper.

There was no answer.

This time Raph started counting the seconds, figuring the minutes. He'd gotten to about five, starting to worry about Leo again, who hadn't turned back around or spoken since, when the blue-banded turtle finally responded. "He moved."

"What?" Both he and Mike hissed.

"He moved." Leo repeated. "Shifted a little; scratched his arm. I think he'll be okay, once we get out of here." His words became quieter with each one spoken.

Stiffly, the leader turned over, back onto his shell, eyes squeezed shut, gritting his teeth in pain. Once in position, he breathed out, then in, repeating the pattern a few more times before opening his eyes. He stared up at the ceiling, lost in that land of guilt and fear and self-loathing, shaded, disguised in an enveloping cloak of poised control.

Raph was about to talk to him about it when the door opened and the monster known to them as Callis stepped into the room, back into their lives once more.

&&&&&

Exhaustion was thicker than the first time he'd woken up. In certain places, he felt sticky and wet; for a moment, he feared that he had wet himself, something he hadn't done for many, _many _years- not since he was two. Leo feared he'd never be able to live it down.

It wasn't until the intense pain registered in his mind once more did he realize it was blood, the small amount that hadn't dried.

Oddly, for a few seconds, he was almost relieved.

Then he recalled everything that had happened, what bad shape they were all in. The blue-clad turtle was grateful that Mike and Raph were awake, but, despite what he'd said after watching the fourth turtle, he worried about Donatello's condition.

He worried about _all_ of their well-beings. Spending his life fluctuating between optimistic and pessimistic moods, Leo was in that of the latter, for the time being. This was how it worked with him. He started one mini-adventure with hope and trust in the common man, only to end it in a pool of harsh reality and self-loathing.

Thinking back to when they were safe in their own time, really not all that long ago, leaving April's, Leo shook his head slightly. _We should've just gone home. It was my job to make sure we went home. What kind of leader am I? _He thought of another mistake. When they first found the mansion and Mikey had gone inside. _I shouldn't have given in. We should've moved on._

Before he could continue with his silent ranting, he being the solitary audience, the door opened, and Callis was in the room. Calmly, hands clasped behind his back, the old man stepped in front of each of their tables, silently examining their individual conditions.

Turning his head, Raph could see his brother was doing his best to hold his tongue.

"None of ya are dead yet, are ya?" Callis asked, he asked in a low and sinister voice. "That's good- I haf pl'ns for ya."

Leo could see him frown when he came to Don. Carefully, he poked the turtle, checking him out. Moving behind him, he checked the purple-banded ninja's head and tisked. "Co'cussi'n." His lips tightened in disappointment. "I s'pose we'll haf to wait."

Out of nowhere, it seemed, the Ardor, disguised as a man, pulled a stool close and sat closer to his 'kin', in the middle of his prisoners line of sight. Just barely, Leo noticed one of the other two slip away behind the chair.

Well, that was a relief. He'd hate to see magic added to the list of his foe's abilities. They were bad enough already.

Looking at the three conscious ones, Callis grinned widely. "It hurts, doesn' it?" He hissed. "It's painful, am I right?"

None of them answered, just glared.

It only made the alien's smile broaden. "Sil'nce says more than any w'rds."

Then, he took in a deep breath; frail body, deceitful as it was, shuddering as it did so. Leo realized he was smelling their blood.

He laid his head back down and stared up at the ceiling in disgust.

After what seemed like a millennium, Callis exhaled happily. "While we're waitin', how 'bout I tell ya'll a st'ry?" He suggested, in almost a grandfatherly tone. He raised his hand, as if to pledge his innocence. "'N this time it's true, I swear."

Forcing himself to stay awake, Leo listened carefully. He felt- _knew_, that somewhere in this monologue, there _had _to be something he could use to get his brothers and himself out of here. There just had to be.

He'd failed his family too many times. He couldn't do so again.

Therefore, checking on his siblings constantly throughout the tale, yet keeping an ear out for important information, Leo waited for his opportunity.

&&&&&

The guy was _monologuing_. If Mike had learned _anything_ from comic books, television shows, and movies, it was that once an evil villain started monologuing, they typically became reduced to a complete idiot and revealed some crucial plot points or other details. Thus, the hero had a better chance of figuring out how to escape, save the day, and be home in time to have a quiet, civilian supper with the missus.

And while he wasn't married, he was hoping for the rest of that typical ending, even if it still usually only happened in those fictive stories or scripts. At the moment though, Mikey really wished that that were all this was.

Looking very pleased to have an audience, Callis gazed up at the ceiling. "Now, the full st'ry. Ya see, me 'n my kin came here in the year twen'y-two hundred. After blen'in' in with the pop'lati'n for a year, my group, 'long with sev'ral ot'ers 'round the world, slowly b'gan to feed on it's spoils, uh, that's you, 'n gat'er it's r'sources for our own uses."

Mikey rolled his eyes. They'd already heard this part before. Unable to lift his head much, not really even wanting to watch their storyteller, he couldn't see Callis the whole time. The situation quickly became something like watching a television rerun, only with nothing but the sound working.

And God knew that during those reruns, picture was about the only thing that made them interesting, not to mention _bearable_, at times.

But Mike figured that, just this once; he'd found an exception.

The shape-shifter continued. "Your kind had _no_ idea what hit 'em. We struck when they didn' know it. Once the 'lectricity was gone, we Ardors were like, as you say, snakes in the grass, huntin' our prey. T'anks to our work, fuel no longer worked for 'em; cars 'topped in the middle of the roads. There were no c'mmunications; no one knew what was happenin' anywhere but right in fron' of 'em." He snickered. "'N haf the time, they didn' even know that."

Grimacing, Mike turned his head and looked at Raph, who was gritting his teeth in anger. He could barely see Leo beyond his red-clad brother, but the eldest seemed to maintain his features: stoic.

Almost dreamily, Callis got to the gruesome parts. "Ya should've seen it- blood 'n bodies in the streets, ev'ry _home_, ev'ry _tree_. Same t'ing for the an'mals. Ev'ry't'ing so… rich. 'N the hunts were thrillin'." Another laugh. "Them humans- they like to run, eh?"

No response. But the alien didn't seem to care.

He knew he was getting his point across- that he was disgusting them.

Lacing his bony fingers, Callis grinned. "It went on for _fifty_ years. Our food was plen'iful; there's always some strag'lers. 'N we can always play the in'cent card- like we did with ya." He made sure to flash them a special smile, sweet- and yellowed. "E'rthlings- so naïve."

His face slowly began to change. "Seven _billion_ of 'em. That should've been enough. But now, it's been over a cent'ry." He paused. "We're runnin' out of food."

Raphael snorted. "Forgive us if we don't feel sorry for ya." He said sarcastically.

Callis' eyes flashed. "What a mouth." He turned to his comrades. "'Mazin', isn't it? These te'nagers, ruder than the ones b'fore 'em." Back to the four in front of him. "As disre'pectful as ya are, I say the same to you."

&&&&&

Insolent as the terrapins were, they were strong; Callis would give them that. He and his kin hadn't had such a good hunt in over a decade. This lot was clever, skilled, and determined. They were also _dangerous_, having taken down four Ardors, despite the unknown terrain.

That, in itself, was unforgivable. Nevertheless, it had made the hunt more thrilling. He believed his departed kin had felt that as well before they had died.

After the short banter between the red-clad turtle, there was little from them as he continued. The first mostly glared, adding a few remarks in from time to time. The one in orange mostly listened, said little as well. Of the three, he was the one Callis seemed to be getting to the deepest. As for the leader, he also paid close attention. His focus and demeanor was chilling, aware, yet silent. But he said nothing- something the Ardor attributed to his injuries, which had sucked most of the strength out of him, much like his brothers.

Callis simply could not _wait_ to finish what he'd started with that one. At least in that shoulder area, the turtle's well-toned muscles were exceptionally delicious.

Ignoring most of what the group said, he continued. He never left his victims with lies of the Ardors' victories at their death. He had to crush any feeling of power or superiority they had left in their bones.

This was an exceedingly pleasant case; since the four knew nothing at all of even their _invasion_, he could start from the beginning. However, it was also slow going. They were particularly strong-minded- even convinced that they still stood a chance.

Ooh… _that_ was funny. He and his remaining kin would certainly have a laugh about that once they began feeding, in a toast to their fallen allies.

It was a shame that the purple one wasn't awake. He was going to miss out on all the things Callis had to say before he fed upon them.

&&&&&

_It_ had gone into another rant; now, one about the time the Ardors had spent here in this mansion, feeding off of all of the remaining humans that came their way.

Slowly, it explained each of the rooms they'd been in. Raph wanted to puke, but didn't want to give Callis the satisfaction.

He couldn't help but notice that he left out the one they'd had their little battle in.

When finished, the Ardor was clearly disappointed- he stopped talking for a minute or two. Raph was hoping he'd run out of topics.

Turning his head, the ninja looked at his little brother, who was staring at the glass ceiling, looking for the source of the light each time it flashed.

A light blue around them, pulsing; always pulsing.

"Ah, yes. Forgot 'bout that one. Ya see, this light doesn' keep us Ardors out, as I said b'fore. It attracts 'em; it's a special min'ral from our home that rad'ates a light per'odic'ly. It even allows us to cam'flauge ourselves, but you've seen that b'fore."

Mike shifted a little at that, suddenly looking a little more hopeful, though he tried to hide it. Callis didn't notice at all.

Finally, Leo spoke. "So," he asked, "I couldn't help but notice you can't change back into your little Ardor form for very long." He grinned. "You like looking like _that_ all the time, huh?"

The not-so-human man reddened. "That," he spat, "is none of your b'is'ness. Who would _want_ to look like this?" He glared, first at them, then his own body. "It's vile, hideous; it can't even d'gest it's own kind."

A familiar voice to Leo's left sounded, slowly, a little slurred, but understandable. "That why you're tryin' to get home, Callis?"

"Don?" All three of them asked as Callis looked to the other turtle.

The ninja laughed quietly before turning his head to look at the Ardor. "What's the problem? Can't stand this planet anymore?" Don's look slowly became more serious. "You made a mistake, ya know."

Callis got to his feet. "What the hell are ya talkin' 'bout, boy?"

"You messed up." Don stated bluntly. "Your message didn't work." He laughed again. "And from what I've seen, I can guarantee that you're _never_ gonna get home."

&&&&&

Another cliffy! Fun!

Don't kill me!

Oh, and if you want to know all the purposes for those rooms, check out my section of Stealthy Stories under OC Profiles. I have one for the Ardors now that goes into that.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed! Please review! Please!


	11. Out

Hello, ya'll! Back again, on time, happily!

And guess what? Pulse officially had one hundred reviews! I'm so happy! And I have all of you to thank so: Thank you, very, very much!

Well, here's Chapter 11! Hope everyone likes this one. I sat around forever thinking it up.

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: The TMNT do not belong to me, unless you're referring to the various merchandise I own that bears their logo. Yeah, that's all mine.

&&&&&

**New York City. November 27, 2306 AD. 4:05 AM.**

Standing still, Callis tried to keep a calm demeanor as he waited for the turtle to continue. He exchanged a cautious glance with his two kin behind him.

All three were wondering how exactly this one had been able to understand the contents of their files, but they were even more worried about how much he _knew_.

They were about to find out.

With a flick of his wrist, Callis gestured for the two Ardors to come out of the darkness and keep a closer eye on the remaining terrapins. Once slipped a Tric, he approached the one in purple and spoke carefully. "Ya mind elab'ratin' on that?"

Donatello, as he was called, stretched his fingers a little. "That message you were trying to send off didn't even work." He explained. "Instead of sending it three hundred light-years into space, you sent it three hundred years into the past." He grinned. "Want me to go on?"

Callis shook his head before looking at the mutant's brothers. "And how did you discover this?"

"Don't know…" Don sighed. "But I knew I was right."

And indeed, Callis was sure that he was. That _message_ had been sent out five years ago, with no answer. They'd begun to wonder what was happening.

The fact was… Nigel Callis was dying.

A useful gift such as shape-shifting came with a painful burden; an Ardor could only keep one given body for so long before they began to retain that shape… permanently. And that included _mostly_ everything about it, namely life-span and digestive system.

At the age of two-hundred and twelve, he was stuck in a body that should have deteriorated by _seventy-five_. He couldn't eat the human meat in this form, for he would become gravely ill. Thus, the only time he could revert back to his Ardor form, a time that wouldn't last for very long, _was_ to eat.

He _should've_ been up to his neck in the spoils of this conquered planet. He _should've _been healthy, living up to an age of four hundred, perhaps.

But instead, he was sickly, dying, and cut off from his home world, with no more than three of his kin.

And this turtle knew all about it. Even worse, he knew of their mistakes.

At that point, Callis decided that this Donatello would be the first to die.

&&&&&

Currently, Michelangelo couldn't understand _anything_ that was going on at the moment. One second, they were talking about Callis' disgusting body; the next, it was over some silly message and time travel.

Sighing, Mike laid his head back down on the table. _This is so confusing._

The light pulsed.

While Callis was silent, glaring daggers at his brother in purple, Mike thought about it again. Their captor had said that the light _attracted_ Ardors, even allowed the species to camouflage themselves.

Maybe if they could find a way to stop it from doing its job, they would at least have one less thing to worry about.

Grinning slightly, the ninja thought that this was a good plan. Unfortunately, he then remembered that the source of this light, a mineral apparently, had yet to be seen by them.

_Well, so much for that idea._

Another flash came. But this time, it wasn't a light blue.

&&&&&

Don knew he had struck a nerve with Callis, he just didn't really care. His head was pounding, he was tired, and he wanted to get out of this place.

The teenager _did_ find it interesting that the shape-shifter had such a weak-spot about his current physique, however- not to mention impending death. He'd some to understand Callis' predicaments, and was hoping to use them to his advantage, if he needed to.

But first things first- the four of them needed to get out of here. While speaking with Callis, a conversation that involved glaring for the last half, Don had been gently wriggling left arm out of the strap that has lashed it down.

There was hate and hunger in Callis' eyes.

That finally done, resisting the urge to go back to sleep, Don fingered the buckle next to his stomach. Undone, he would have little trouble sitting straight up.

Finished, he lay still once more, shifting his attention between Callis, and the strange device between his hand and his suit. Don had heard it go off a few times today and figured he knew how it worked. He just hoped it was just as successful on Ardors. Once Callis was close enough, Don decided to grab it.

However, he hadn't been expecting him to turn into that Ardor form.

His brothers yelling out to him; in a matter of five seconds, Callis had shed his human skin and turned into a vicious, three foot tall beast. Just as his teeth came only inches from his side, Donny moved. Suddenly awake, he sat up and crossed his left arm over his chest, reaching for the gun-like item as it fell, support lost in the change.

He caught it.

It _was _as simple as Don had thought. Just pull the one little trigger; that's all it took.

Luckily for him, in the purple-banded turtle's sudden movement, Callis had just barely missed his target. Instead, his jaw had bitten down on nothing but air, neck colliding painfully with the end of the table. Wind knocked out of him, Callis moaned and began to sink to the floor, reverting to his human form even as he did so.

It wouldn't take long for him to get back up. Don had learned from their battles with these aliens; they were rather thick-skinned.

Aiming carefully, he shot him quick.

A long and thin stream of bright electricity shot towards Callis, hitting him in his right thigh. He screamed, fidgeted, then became still.

Before he could examine him, Don quickly remembered the other two Ardors in the room. Turning, he made one shot, but missed the second target.

&&&&&

When he saw Callis get blasted by the Tric, all Raph could think was, _Way to go, Don!_

Even as his brother was dealing with their captor, the red-clad turtle had started fumbling with the bands containing him, being especially careful with the one over his broken leg.

Once Callis was down, the other two Ardors were on Don like glue. He got one of them quickly enough, but the second creature was missed.

Luckily, Raph was out and in position by then. Risking further injury, he leapt off his table and tackled it. Much to his surprise and pleasure, the Ardor cushioned his fall, leaving his busted leg in the same condition it had been when he jumped.

At least it wasn't worse.

Rolling off of it, the Ardor swiped at him, nicked him on the shoulder, before being shot at by the Tric. It went down smoothly.

Silence in the room, besides their breathing. Raph looked up at Don. "How long do ya think it'll work with them?"

Donny shrugged, somewhat tired. "I dunno. But we better get out quick."

&&&&&

Getting out was easier for the two who had already done so, but not so much for Mike and Leo, neither of whom could move their right arms very well. The leader was slightly embarrassed, only able to get his left hand free without help.

But he didn't think anyone would remember that. They were too busy trying to escape with their lives.

Once all four of them were free, the first thing they had to do was figure out how to make it through the mansion as quickly as possible. This quickly became rather difficult once all of their injuries were summed up. Don had a concussion, Mikey a broken arm; Raph couldn't walk without help thanks to his damaged leg, and Leo himself really couldn't move his right arm very well for the time being.

They would make do, though, the blue-clad turtle figured. If worse came to worse, they could help each other in their area of need.

Just in case, they took the remaining Trics off of the other Ardors. Raph and Don got the first two, and it was eventually decided that Leo would take the third, considering that he was ambidextrous.

Leo spared a glance at his bloody shoulder, trying not to look at the skin that was drooping off of it. He couldn't move his upper arm in any way whatsoever- not without bursting into an intense pain, anyways. Vaguely, he wondered if he'd be able to hole two swords again.

Door opened, they moved out, making a plan as they went along. "Hey," Mikey said to them, "remember what he was saying about the light? How it helps them to camouflage?" They nodded. "Well why don't we take it out? It might give us _some_ sort of advantage?"

Snorting, Raph leaned against the wall, hobbling along for the time being. Eventually, when he had to, someone would help him. "What do ya know. Occasionally, he _does _have a bright idea." He whispered.

Looking tired, Don stared at the light for several seconds. "Yeah, but where do you think we'll find it?"

Mike shrugged. "I don't know- _you're_ the one who read Little Miss Ardor's special diary, Don!"

Suddenly, Raph stopped. "Hey, come look at this."

Rolling his eyes, Mike came over. "I see nothing, dude."

The temperamental brother smacked him upside the head. "No, you idiot! Look," He grabbed Mikey's hand and ran it over the surface of the wall. Leo did likewise.

It wasn't part of the wall.

Crouching down to what he assumed was Ardor level, Leo felt along the sides. There was a button. Pressing it gently, the 'wall' slid open.

"Cool!" Mikey shouted. "It's an elevator!"

"Shh!" The three of them hushed him at the same time.

Holding the door open for them, Mike say inside, looking around. Leo was the last to enter, mouth drawn into a grimace.

Even bending down as he just had was painful.

After what seemed like forever, without any decent elevator music to pass the time by, the box finally reached its destination. Opening, the four turtles saw a near replica of the mansion.

Minus, of course, a deeper glow coming from each room.

"Well, ain't this peachy." Raph stated.

Sighing, Leo couldn't agree with him more.

Stepping out of the elevator, the ninjas walked around, carefully opening each door just a crack.

There was a lot of technology, stuff that they might come back to if they didn't find anything better, but nothing they wanted for the moment.

And then they came to a room made of glass.

There was an Ardor in it.

Suspended in a light red cage, surrounded by that blue light, it opened its eyes. The red cage dissipated, and it stepped forward until it was only two feet away from them.

Cocking its head, it stared at each one of them before narrowing its eyes at two in particular. Raphael and Michelangelo. At any second, it looked as if it was going to jump through and tear them apart.

It was at that moment that Leo did one of the most ludicrous things in his life.

Not caring about the glass, he backed up quickly, his brothers doing likewise, and aimed at the Ardor, Tric in his left hand. The bolt of electricity went straight to its target, but, of course, did not hit it directly.

Glass shattered into thousands of pieces, hurling towards the creature and back towards them. But by that point, they were moving again. Don helped Raph while Leo and Mikey ran as quickly as they could into the duplicate hallways from below before coming to a stop.

There, they listened quietly for any sound of the enemy.

&&&&&

Terribly, _terribly _short, I know! And I'm sorry! Had I kept the length of this story at twelve chapters, it would've been longer… just not as suspenseful.

I do my best, honestly. I try to make it long, but sometimes, you just have writer's block.

Oh, hey! That Ardor you just last saw, he's the one Raph and Mike took down/spared in Chapter 9… he just doesn't remember that last part.

Anyway, I hope you liked, and please review!


	12. Pulse of Hell

Hi there! I decided to update earlier than ten days, considering my horrid delay last time, which I greatly apologize for. Originally, the author's note at the beginning of last chapter stated this, but this site was having some difficulties at the time, so it didn't get fixed.

Anyways, I'm back early. Hope you're all happy! I'm trying to get back on track, but life without Internet is making my brilliant plan rather difficult.

But I shall do my best! Please tolerate my slowness- I'm only human! And geez, was this one hard to write! Probably cause I didn't really have it in mind when I started.

Oh yeah. The Ardor Raph and Mike ran into happens to be the same from Chapter 8.

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: Guess what? Since we last met, I _still _don't own the TMNT! Surprising, ain't it?

&&&&&

**New York City** **November 27, 2306 AD** **5:12 AM**

In his entire lifespan, which was about three times longer than any other humans'; that had been the very first time that Callis had felt the effects of a Tric. And, unsurprisingly, he had to admit that the sensation wasn't by any means pleasant.

After all, they'd specifically been designed that way.

He was thankful that their skin was thicker. A great deal of the electricity hadn't affected them as much as it would've with any other person.

Human arthritic bones popping painfully as he gripped one of the tables, Callis got to his feet, turning his head to see two of the only three remaining kin he had left. "Get up!" He yelled at them. "We can't let 'em get 'way! Who knows what they'll do."

Shaking off their agony, Ella and Ethan rose up, looking at their leader, awaiting their orders. Shouts created no sore feelings with them; they were connected on a deep level, one of intense devotion and understanding.

They were kin.

"Look for 'em." Callis commanded, voice somewhat softer than before. "They're woun'ed and no doubt in pain. They can't haf gone far."

The two Ardors nodded, then turned to leave. "Wait," he told them, remembering something all of a sudden. "Take these." He said, with a wide grin. Shaking, he handed each a small item.

Without telepathy, they understood. In a mood to kill, they departed, leaving Callis to handle his own part of the scheme.

Deep down inside, the alien hoped- _felt_, that Ethan would be the one to find them. It would certainly strike a chord if he did.

&&&&&

The second Mikey had seen that Ardor behind the glass wall, he'd gotten the horrible feeling that it was the very one he and Raph had run into earlier, even though it looked a hundred percent better than when they'd left it. This was the one they'd spared.

He gulped as the creature turned its focus on himself and his red-clad brother, confirming his suspicions. Clearly, it didn't remember that last part, though Mike was getting the impression that it recalled its defeat at their hands before that pretty damn well.

Well, that was unfortunate.

Even worse was when Leo decided to use an impromptu diversion. Using the Tric, he'd shot at the glass, shattering it even as they began to run. This obviously gave that Ardor a means to get after them quicker, but the glass would leave it immobilized for a bit, at least.

They stopped in a hallway, similar to all the others, silently listening for the alien, which was sure to be after them. Minimizing their appearance as best as they could, the four pressed their shells to the walls.

It wasn't a genius plan Batman would come up with, but it was good enough, not to mention the first thing that came to mind.

Minutes passed; no sound. He was getting worried, as the rest of his brothers were, obviously. That was when something dropped to the ground from above, directly in front of them.

It was a little bear. A little bear with yellow and red finger-paint, though the latter color wasn't at all what it seemed.

Eyes widening, they stared at it, though none could possibly have been more terrified, more angered, more heartbroken; than Michelangelo.

The bear. _Tory's_ bear. The one she'd held as she'd died, as she'd been eaten.

Simultaneously, they looked up, Leo wincing slightly as they did so. Though it was a shoulder wound, it had certainly done some nerve damage as well.

Hanging to the ceiling, a human figure flipped down. Mikey instantly recognized him as Ethan, one of Callis' 'servants'. Grinning, he dropped to the floor, paying no mind to the toy. He knew they'd seen it, and that was clearly all that mattered.

Before them, grin widening, he raised his eyebrows before morphing into that disgusting creature. And, naturally, it attacked.

&&&&&

Starting to wish that he hadn't listened to his little brother and just have killed the freaking alien, Raph had the Tric, and himself, ready to finish the job.

He'd found another setting, a high one, and was curious to see how it worked.

He was surprised when the Ardor didn't come. Instead, Ethan did, with a little friend.

Since meeting up with each other again, he, Don, and Leo now knew about the significance of this teddy bear. The thought of a defenseless little girl getting… it made Raph's blood boil.

If only it would mend his shattered leg.

Firing the Tric, he was granted with a lucky hit; thus, a quick battle. The electric bolt hit and went through the Ardor's front leg, side, and went all the way through the wall.

Besides the red-clad turtle himself, the other three terrapins had already moved, Mikey just barely being able to avoid landing on his broken arm. Don got to his feet, though a bit groggily, and helped him up.

Carefully, slowly, Leo rose as well. His face was twisted in pain, but relaxed almost immediately once he was up.

The Ardor, bleeding but not unconscious, glared at them before barking loudly.

Raph gritted his teeth. "_Please_ let me kill him." He said, already making his way toward the alien.

"Not now." Leo shook his head. "We have to move."

His answer had been expected. Raph even knew the reasons behind it. Wounded, they were slow; they needed every spare second to move and get out of this place. Back-up could already be on its way.

But that didn't mean he had to like it.

Once far away enough, they began checking rooms again. The pulsing glow was getting brighter the farther into the mansion they went.

And then they came to, what Raph was _sure_ to be, the center of the building, and their destination.

Hanging over their heads, shining like blue gold laced throughout the rocks in a mine, was the mineral Callis had spoken of. Every ten seconds, it emitted a glow, one that not only colored everything around it, but nearly took out visibility all together.

Watching it, Raph followed its trail in the ceiling. The mineral spread out like the roots of a tree, going in all directions, becoming thinner and thinner as it moved along until it simply disappeared into the walls surrounding them. Even in there, it pulsed.

Mike tapped him. "What?" Raph asked, before following his brother's chain of sight.

There, on the floor just under the stone, was their weapons. Grinning, Raph made his way over to his sais, reluctantly accepting the help of his orange-clad brother. This action, which required him to bend down a bit, was difficult with a broken leg, but the temperamental turtle didn't care.

Picking them up, he grinned evilly. _Now_, he was ready to party.

"So," Raph said, leaning on Mike's good shoulder and looking back up at the glowing object; "how do we stop this sucker from doin' it's job?"

&&&&&

For the life of him, all Don wanted to do was lay down and rest; sleep sounded _so_ good.

Occasionally, he wondered _why_ he couldn't do that. He felt that it was a bad idea, he just didn't comprehend the reasoning behind it. For the moment, only three rules existed in his head, amongst scattered bits of what he'd learned about Ardor history and technology.

The first was to stick with his brothers. The second was to figure out how to get out of here. And the third was to do everything in his power to stay alive.

Following his siblings, Don felt the urge to throw up, but suppressed it. Something told him that now wasn't a very good time.

When they all stopped and turned their heads up to the ceiling, he was a little slow at recognizing the importance of the tiny object attached to it. But suddenly, he recalled the mineral Callis had spoken of; the plan they'd had to remove it and thus leave the Ardors unable to camouflage themselves.

Raph asked how they were supposed to take it out. That was a very good question. Looking up at the ceiling, Don followed the blue veins back to the source- a seemingly small rock, directly in the center.

Not noticing everyone was staring at him, Don took a wild guess. "Maybe if we take that out, it'll stop working."

A bit of his fatigue wore off. _Oh, like _that_ took a genius to figure out._

Shaking his head, the purple-clad ninja turned back to their problem. The roof was adequately high; they'd need to stack two of the four on top of one another.

That counted Leo out. With his serious shoulder wound, he definitely wouldn't be able to do that. Despite whatever crazy drug they'd all been given to stop the bleeding, he'd lost enough beforehand; the eldest was already rather pale.

Thinking, Don figured Raph wouldn't be able to do this, either. _Two_ well-functioning legs were probably a requirement in this job.

So that left it up to himself and Mikey. This still made it difficult, considering the latter of the two had a broken arm. He probably wouldn't be able to climb up to Don's shoulders, but would he be able to support his brother?

This whole time, since they'd escaped, he hadn't really noticed how bad off they were, situation-wise, as well as physically; even when they ran into that Ardor only a few minutes ago. He'd just been drifting along…

There was a rumble beneath them. Curious, his question was solved when Leo looked off into the distance. "Elevator." He muttered.

There was no more time to think. With a nod to Mike, Don stood under the stone and waited for the orange-banded ninja to come on over. Once in position, his brother climbed up onto his shoulders, being careful of Mikey's injury. Nevertheless, he could hear him whimper.

_Now what? _A voice in his head sounded. Only mere inches away from the ceiling, he lifted his arm and ran his fingers over the small rock. "Leo, could I use a katana, please?" He asked.

Turning his attention away from the hallway they'd just come out from, Leo started to reach for one of his swords with the wrong hand. He'd barely even moved before he burst into pain; a minor etching in his facial features masking his true suffering.

Closing his eyes, he used his other hand to grab a katana before moving over to his brother and handing it to him.

"Thanks…" Don told him, forcing himself to turn back to the stone… and pausing for a second when the world around him began to spin. He wondered if Callis, whilst creating his X-rated Barbie Dream House, had remembered to add a garbage can.

It seemed that he wasn't doing so well himself.

Once all was still, Don raised his brother's katana. "Hope this works…" He mumbled before placing the tip of the blade on the stone and digging it in.

The mineral, once broken through an outer layer, was surprisingly soft, going in without complaint as soon as it reached the center. However, Don began to worry when the mansion still remained lit, pulsing still.

That's when he recalled the 'pulse' of a heart. As a person died, the heart beat on for a few seconds more, slowing down, slowing-

The light wasn't flashing regularly anymore. It was dimming. Just like the beating of a heart, it began to slow down.

Taking the last few seconds they had of light, Don climbed off his brother, checked to see if he was okay, before standing back. There, the four of them watched as the light reached an end.

The heart of hell beat no more.

&&&&&

Still endowed with telepathic ability, Ella had gotten Ethan's message while Callis had not. But that mattered little. As loyal as Ella was, Callis had received not long after her, once she spoke to him on her way up to defeat the turtles.

He planned on joining them, once he secured the room, the one they'd battled in just yesterday. The technology it guarded with its walls was of the utmost importance to contacting the home world of the Ardors- and escaping this miserable planet.

Thus, saving his life.

Apparently, somewhere down the line, the four had made it upstairs to the healing chamber and had run into the last living member of Callis' kin. Before a fight could break out with him, Ethan had arrived and made him leave, considering that he wasn't fully recovered.

In Ethan's attempt to destroy the ninjas, he'd been injured, and had lost them. While that made Callis growl in fury, he was happy about one thing.

The bear had been delivered. He was sure they knew who it had belonged to last, as well as how that previous owner had perished.

The bear was a symbol, one of ultimate pain, suffering, and death.

Callis grinned. As quickly as the smirk had come, it went quickly as the Ardor noticed what was happening around him. He stopped in his tracks. The light, his _blessed_ light, was fading away!

Bu how? That wasn't possible! Unless… Unless the terrapins had gotten to it.

Gritting his teeth, Callis slammed his fist into the wall. _I should've done away with them when I had the chance!_

Still angered, Callis forced himself to move. He knew this mansion like the back of his hand. It was a trait acquired when you owned the place for over a hundred years.

Despite his growing fear, he had a job he had to do- one that _had _to be done as quickly as possible.

First, he had to kill the turtles, before they could do more damage- quickly, but with as much pain as possible.

Secondly, he _had_ to get the mineral working once more.

For not only did it help them camouflage, a useful trick during the hunt. Also, it was that very mineral which had kept him alive in this body for so long.

&&&&&

Pitch black. Darkness surrounded them in every direction. Leo was relieved that they had one less thing to worry about, were they to confront the Ardors again. However, it put a little dampener in the rest of the plan, whatever it might come to be.

Mike, ever so obvious, voiced the problem; pain lacing his voice, slightly. "So… how do we get to wherever the hell we're going?"

"Hmm…" Don said, "We could just follow the walls back to the elevator." He suggested.

Not too far a way from him, Raph shifted, being cautious of his leg. "Oh yeah, Don. _There's _some genius workin' for ya." He said, a bit sarcastically.

"What other choice do we have?" Leo asked. Honestly, it was the only thing he could think up as well. Wordlessly, Don gave him back his sword. Excepting it, Leo placed it back in its sheaf.

Ahead, Raph moved, probably trying to make out any figures in the darkness, as Leo, and, doubtlessly, Mike and Donny were.

Because of the silence, the words that then followed seemed to echo around them. "Ring 'round the rosies… A pock't full of posies… Ashes, ashes…" A thump sounded directly in front of them, and two, green eyes glowed in the darkness; "We all fall down."

Behind him, he felt Mikey's hand suddenly grip his own.

Among the shadows, a different shade of black took a new form, becoming distinctly human. Ella; Leo was sure. The shape looked female.

He could hear the clicks of her shoes coming closer; Raph hobbled backwards, already getting to his sais.

Ella chuckled. "I mus' tell ya, I'm not as 'nexper'enced' as Eth'n- my kin. I know how to handle myself. 'Sides Callis, I'm the best this mansion has seen."

Don snorted lightly. "That must be pretty good. Considering there was originally twenty-eight of you."

Eyes narrowing, Ella moved quickly to his brother in purple. Leo could _hear _her breath quickening. "And _where_ did you learn _that_?" She screeched.

"Same place I learned everything else."

She must've known where that place was, for she wasted no time in attacking.

Don's injuries, mainly the concussion, made him slow. As Ella changed back into an Ardor, she charged at his plastron. Wall behind him, the breath was knocked out of Donatello. However, it seemed that his adversary had forgotten about the barrier and had been expecting to take him down to the ground.

Caught off guard, she _clearly_ hadn't been expecting Don to hit her, again, with the Tric. Twitching, she went down.

For a few seconds, they stood over her unconscious body as Raph helped Don back into an upright position. "Good, my ass." The red-clad ninja scoffed.

"C'mon, guys. Let's go." Leo reminded them.

Carefully, the four began to follow the walls once more, heading back for the elevator. It took awhile, considering their previous running had made the place a maze, but they knew they were on track once Mikey stepped on a piece of glass.

"Jeez!" The youngest cried. "Man, this place is even more confusing in the _dark_!" After a few seconds, in a softer tone, he added, "Not to mention creepier."

In minutes, they found it. Inside the elevator, once the doors closed, to Leo's relief, the numbers for each floor weren't as difficult to find as he'd thought. Apparently, there was a still-functioning back-up system that lit up each button.

Pushing the first, Leo sent them to the lower floor.

He hoped that he wasn't sending them to their deaths.

&&&&&

Breathing heavily, blinking through darkness, Ella couldn't believe she'd been so, for lack of a better word, _stupid_. Too rash; she hadn't thought of all the details, what could happen.

Desperately, she wished the healing chamber was fixed. She would be too slow now. But the Ardor had to warn Callis; he'd been right. Surely, the four terrapins were on their way to the room, and there weren't many of her kin left to stop them.

Feasting mattered little now. Though she wished to feed on their meat, a prize _well_ worth fighting for, it was more important to stop them from ending their entire existence.

As she got on all fours, Ella opened up a channel with the only two remaining Ardors, not including Callis. _I couldn' stop 'em. They're comin'. Warn Callis. _

After pausing to move, she sent an even more urgent plea. _We can't fail! Stop 'em- _kill_ 'em! We can't let 'em get to the room! _

&&&&&

The doors slid open. With a frown, Raph tried to remember where they were. All he could recall was that the front of the elevator had been a façade, appearing as if part of the wall.

They all moved out, himself coming last. Having to move thanks to the support of the wall meant slow travel. Even still, his leg felt like it was being attacked by a thousand hybrid ticks armed with bee stingers, burrowing their way inside his limb before letting loose with their attack.

Raph shook his head, this simile not making his love of bugs grow any better.

Before a word could be said, Donny stepped forward. Eyes growing accustomed to the darkness, Raph could tell it was him. Growing up with him for sixteen years helped… and the bo staff _really_ clued him in.

Cocking his head, Don spoke. "I'll take us there. Yeah… I think I can find it."

"Think?" Mikey asked, fear in his voice.

"I saw the blueprints for this place." Don explained. "At least the lower level, anyways. It wasn't really described in pictures as it was words, but it's the same basic principle."

Raph turned to Leo, who shrugged, breathing in as he did so. All three of them trusted Donny, no matter what the circumstances.

Well, except for that time the gunk from Bishop's manufactured aliens had turned him into a monster. That had made trust a little more difficult, but that was a completely different story. Besides, even then, they had trusted him, though the level of which was a little lower at the time.

Once again, that was a completely different story. One that had, in a way, almost reinforced their faith in him.

When Don moved, they moved, turning right. Almost as if by a miracle, nothing attacked. And then, their brother stopped, right in front of a door. "This is it." He said. "I'm sure."

Raph felt the impact before he heard the growl.

On the ground, leg in pain, he found two Ardors before them, one bleeding in a familiar spot that identified him as Ethan. The unnamed one was taking Leo and Mike while he and Don were stuck with the one that had gotten the bonus treat of revenge.

Placing it's foot against his brother's arm, taking the Tric out of his hands, Ethan kept his front paw on Raph's chest. Seemingly, it began to take in a long sniff, as if smelling him, before opening its mouth, coming closer and closer to his throat.

His other brothers weren't doing so well, either. The remaining Ardor took turns with each, favoring further injury to their wounds. Raph could hear them crying out with each one they endured.

Discreetly, Raph placed his foot under Ethan's belly and kicked up- _hard._ The Ardor went flying, barely scratching Don's plastron as it did so.

Distracted, the other looked at the two in shock. A mistake. Mike and Leo tackled it immediately. While it fought, Leo managed to place his Tric next to its neck.

The sight wasn't pretty. Apparently, he'd discovered the higher setting on the weapon as well.

Unsure where Ethan was, but not wanting to wait around to find out, they rushed into the room.

Don was right. Raph remembered the place; all the strange looking consoles.

He hadn't been expecting Callis to be in there.

The alien was working on one of the devices, probably trying to erase certain information. He barely glanced at them as they entered. "Freaks…" He said in a low voice; "vile cre'tures-"

Mikey interrupted. "You talking about us or yourself?"

Callis didn't seem to hear it. "We came here to feed. To hunt. You do the same. Now," He leaned up, "you've killed us all."

Looking closely, Raph noticed that Callis seemed to be getting shorter- more bony. His hair was falling out. Stepping closer to them, if Raph could trust his eyes in this darkness, his very skin, sagging close to his skeleton, seemed to be deteriorating.

He had to trust them when the alien, sinking, reached his hand out to them, only for several fragments of skin to turn to ash right there and then.

The door burst open. Turning, Raph noticed Ethan, as well as the Ardor they'd fought upstairs. At first, they'd seemed ready to fight again, but then they'd noticed Callis, who had, by now, fallen to the floor.

Instantly turning into a human figure, Ella ran to Callis' side as Raph and his brothers began to back away.

Leaning in close to Don, Leo whispered, "Can you get us out of here?"

Don nodded. "I think so. Give me a sec." Slowly, he disappeared behind their backs and began working with some of the machinery.

Ethan, in Ardor form, behind her, Ella stroked Callis' face, holding him until he went limp, and even longer still. Raph risked a glance at Don, whose work was slow, but slower to the turtle.

Finally, Ella looked up at them, so fast, Raph thought she would've snapped her neck. "I made a m'stake the first time 'round. I won't again." Laying her kin gently to the ground, she stood. "If he couldn't destroy ya, than _I_ will!" With a roar, she changed back into an Ardor, and she and Ethan leapt at them.

Fighting was difficult. But they defended Don while he worked, now a little quicker, though still a little confused.

Only two strikes had been dealt, but already, Raph felt that this was the end. But then, Don shouted. "Guys! It's ready!"

Breathing heavily, Mike swung a nunchuck with his good arm and hit Ethan right in the face, kicking his underside as he flew back. With shuriken, Raph warded Ella back while Leo defended him when she tried to claw him.

They backed up. Donny, an unfamiliar device in hand, hit a button. In the center of them, a little red, electric worm began to squirm. Raph recalled it. Wasting no time, Leo touched it.

And there was that sound again. First, his ears popped, and then… _Swish._

&&&&&

There! Much longer, wouldn't you agree!

Can you believe we only have three chapters left? I can't. (cries) My baby grew up so fast!

So you know, the horror is mostly over now. Actually, I think, if there's any, it won't be a lot.

But you'll still read, right? Right?

Dear God, please review! And thanks to those that already have!


	13. When Life Was Good

Back early again!

This is a short chapter, and I include it only because the importance of it is necessary for the story. It also happens to be a different place, and I couldn't go to both in one chapter.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT, but I have a lovely memorabilia going on that can't be taken away from me! Well, unless robbers come…

&&&&&

**New York City. November 27, 2200 AD. 6:33 AM.**

The world was about ten times brighter when they arrived. Don slid to the ground and squeezed his eyes shut, tired and not wanting to move, no matter how interesting the scenery was.

Back in Callis' mansion, he'd used the same coordinates that had been entered to bring them here, though the Ardors had originally meant it to alert the rest of the rest of their species to their position.

Groaning, Raph crumpled to the ground. "Sure as hell glad that we're outta there." He said. "But Don, why the heck did you bring us here?"

Mikey blinked at the world around them. The buildings were extremely high-tech, not too mention shiny. People were all around, going about their business happily; some cars drove on the streets, others hovered in the air. "What year is this?" he asked.

Forcing himself to remain awake, the purple-clad turtle looked at them. "Twenty-two hundred." He told them. "I figured out in the last second that, maybe, we could reverse this."

Hand gently clutching at his wounded shoulder, Leo watched him, seeing what he was getting at. "Callis said they invaded Earth the year after this… What's your plan, Donny?"

Sighing, he held up the small device that he'd brought with him. "I was able to figure out what they did wrong. Originally, Callis was trying to send a message back to his home world for help, but he made a mistake. Instead of sending coordinates in a _message_, he created a means of teleportation _at_ those coordinates. The code he was using to send them was the year we live in, so the device sent the vessel, that little lightning bolt thing we saw, to our time."

Don paused to begin work on the device. "I downloaded that program into this computer, and I think I can fix it. I'm planning on sending a message to the Ardors, and tell them that the planet is uninhabitable and has no good source of nourishment. I'll also tell them to cut off communications with the squad they sent, saying they have some sort of virus."

Nodding, Mike got the point. "Only a few Ardors won't be able to do anywhere near that much damage. And everyone else will be able to stop them."

Leo walked over to his brother and followed suit, leaning up against the building. "Maybe we can stop all this from ever happening."

Simultaneously, his three brothers nodded and Don got to work.

&&&&&

Leo tried to take deep breaths as they waited. There wasn't much he, Raph, or Mikey could do to help Don, so all that was left to them was to wait, hoping this would be successful.

He could see how much pain they were all in- more so, in fact, than when they'd been in that dark mansion. It didn't make him feel any better, of course. He couldn't help but wish again that they'd gone straight back to the lair.

"All right." Don said. "It's done." Pushing a button, there was a flash of light.

Mikey crawled over to them. "Did it work?" He asked.

"Uh-huh." Donny nodded. "It's sent."

Raph frowned. "So… what do we do now?"

No sooner had he said it than did they get their answer. Suddenly, all four were racked with an intense pain that made the edges of the world as Leo knew it darken. His wounds seemed to be burning, exploding all it once.

But just before he lost consciousness, his ears popped.

&&&&&

I told you it was short! But it was important, so please be happy! And please review!


	14. Home Sweet Home

Jeez! Just when I get back on schedule, I'm sent to a place with no Internet access and am thrown off again! At least I'm not _too _late. You guys don't mind two days, do you?

Well, here we have the second to the last installment of Pulse! Now, I have to come up with _another _story! I'm running out of ideas! Well, really, I'm only running out of plot lines. Got several good ideas for stories- they just happen to lead nowhere.

Anyways, let's get this baby going. Hope you enjoy!

Oh yeah! Here, the guys have been gone from their time period for about two days now. Fifteen and a half hours have passed since the last chapter and now.

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: If I owned the TMNT, do you think I'd be writing these stories? No! I'd be writing the _scripts_ of these stories for the cartoon, which would then be shunned for children under the age of twelve.

&&&&&

**New York City. November 27, 2006 AD. 9:08 PM.**

It was warm. That was the first thing Raphael's senses confirmed. It was warm, but not uncomfortably so. As a matter of fact, it waspleasant; soothing. And quiet. His head was supported by something soft- a pillow, perhaps? After shifting his head slightly, he was able to tell that that was exactly what it was.

He heard hushed voices not too far away. The red-clad turtle couldn't make out what was being said, but it no way did it appear threatening.

In seconds, he was recalling what had happened. The future. The mansion. The Ardors.  
Jolted awake, Raph opened his eyes, but was rewarded with nothing abominable. No darkness; no pulsing blue light; no monstrous aliens attempting to feed off him or his brothers.

There was a ceiling overhead lit up by a lamp in the corner, aglow in soft, golden tones. It took him a few seconds, but Raph was eventually able to recognize the place. This was April O'Neil's apartment. He was laying on the couch in her living room.

How'd he get back to the twenty-first century? And where were his brothers?  
In his confusion, he'd missed something. A second, and far more thorough, scan of the room, however, quickly revealed a familiar face. To Raph's right, sitting beside the couch, was a large crocodile.

"It is good to see you awake, my friend." The mutant said.

"Leatherhead?" Raph blinked. "What're _you_ doin' here? What the hell's going on?"

Leatherhead smiled, but it wasn't the biggest he'd seen from the croc, who didn't smile much in the first place. To put it simply, it seemed forced. "We were hoping _you_ could tell us that, Raphael." He said. "As for your first question, I came once I was contacted, not too long after Casey found you in that alleyway."

"My brot-" Raph was cut off for at that second, a certain redhead walked in.

"Raph!" April exclaimed. "I'm so glad to see you awake!" She hugged him. "It's been _hours_."  
The dark green turtle frowned. "I'm happy I'm up too, but can ya tell me what the heck happened?"  
April took a step back. "Oh. Of course. Well, to start, you guys have been missing for about _two days_ now." She explained, looking confused. "The night you disappeared, right after helping me move that cabinet downstairs, Splinter called over, worried something had gone wrong. I told him you guys probably stopped for ice cream; you'd talked about it, anyways. But you didn't come home that night, or the next morning. We set out looking for you but… there was nothing." She shook her head. "But early _this_ morning, just when we were about to quit the search until tonight, Casey was driving around that_ Baskin Robbins_ not too far from the store. He found you guys in an alley, unconscious."

Nodding, Leatherhead continued for her. "Because of the time, he brought you here, so you wouldn't be seen. Then, Master Splinter and I were called."

His appreciation couldn't be expressed to Leatherhead at this point in time. God knew how difficult it had to be for their friend to get out of the sewers and to April's apartment unseen, through the backdoor, even.

He'd thank him later. At the moment, there were more pressing matters on his plate. "What about my brothers? They okay?" He asked getting to his feet.

It was a little sore… but it didn't really hurt. Not like a busted limb should hurt.

Shocked, Raph looked at his legs. _Both_ were fine. Confused, he checked the rest of his body but found none of the claw marks or punctures he'd sustained in Callis' mansion. "…What the hell?"

Obviously concerned, April stood, joining Leatherhead, who was already up. She gently touched Raph's shoulder. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I-" Raph tried to tell them; "I was wounded. My leg was broken." He noticed his two friends exchange glances. "What?"

Leatherhead was the one to answer. "Donatello woke up about twenty minutes ago. He complained of injuries as well, ones we couldn't find. He also told us of… of a place in the future."

"He's telling the truth!" Raph exploded. "Don tell ya about the Ardors? The shit they did in that mansion? It's all true." Seeing their quizzical looks, he went on. "My leg was busted, and so was Mike's arm. Don had a concussion and Leo had this huge wound in his shoulder. He got bit, couldn't move his arm." He saw another strange look, this time from April alone. "What?" He asked again.

April bit her lip. "Well… when Casey brought you guys here, there _was_ this small gash in Leo's right shoulder. Two of them, actually. They were kinda shaped like teeth marks and looked pretty bad-" Raph opened his mouth, but the woman spoke again; "But Raph, it's _gone_ now." Seeing his look of bewilderment, she continued. "By the time we'd cleared the blood away, the wound had disappeared."

"How the hell could _that_ happen?" Shaking his head, he decided that this had to be one of the most confusing days of his life. "Where are my bros? I gotta talk to them."

Leatherhead nodded. "Leonardo and Michelangelo still have not awoken. We have them in April's room, where Casey is keeping an eye on them. Donatello is with Master Splinter in the kitchen."  
Before he'd finished speaking, the ninja was heading in that direction.

But despite the peculiarity and seriousness of the situation, Raph was able to think of one thing that made him grin. _Casey in April's room? Wonder how the heck that bonehead won _that_ argument.  
_  
&&&&&

Mind clear now, Donny was nevertheless, in a span of a few minutes, drastically confused once more. Splinter had been kind enough to make him a cup of coffee, the rat himself choosing to have tea, while the purple-banded turtle tried to explain what had happened to the four of them in the past two days.

_And_ why there wasn't a scratch of evidence of it, other than Leo's Houdini wound, seen only by April and Casey.

_Don_ didn't even believe half of the theories he was coming up with. The silence was worse, however, so he kept talking, wondering how long it would take after all four of them were awake to get a lecture, if they _were_ to get one.

He was suspecting they would.

A familiar voice sounded behind him. "Not that I'm not glad, but Don- can you tell me why my leg ain't broken anymore?"

Looking at Raph, the teen popped his neck. "I suppose we'll never be positively sure. The most likely theory, however, is that we changed the timeline when we sent that message and stopped the Ardors from invading Earth. Have you told them about that?" He asked his brother, referring to their companions. "They won't believe me."

Splinter set his cup down on the table. "It is not that we do not believe you, Donatello. The story just seems unbelievable- too horrible." He clarified. "Raphael," he began, looking at the turtle in red; "you recall the same experience?"

Nodding, Raph told their sensei the same thing, almost just exactly as Don had.

As he was finishing, Casey yelled out. "Hey! Mike's up!" There was a bit of a silence, than the man added sheepishly, "Oh, uh, Leo's up now, too."

In April's small room, Michelangelo had the luxury of the bed. Leo had a small cot near the window.  
On the floor, a towel showed a few splotches of blood, not very big in size.

However, unless someone had died recently in that alley they'd been found in, Don could practically guarantee that that blood belonged to his brother.

&&&&&

Paying little attention to what was being said, Leo just sat on his cot, occasionally rolling his shoulder blade; moving his arm. Each time, it hurt less, up until the point that all it felt like was a numb, tingly sensation.

It was so strange, yet so wonderful. In the mansion, he'd wondered if he'd be able to hold a sword again. But when they'd escaped to the year twenty-two-hundred, amidst that light not so long ago, Leo had _known _that he would never be able to do so again. There, it had been so bloody, it looked like…

The wound had been deeper than he'd thought.

But now, the blue-clad turtle had _full_ use of it again. Despite how odd the situation was, it was all he could manage not to jump for joy.

And if _his_ wound had been healed so, his brothers had to be fine too. Even though he'd failed them so badly, now, they were also well again.

If God kept track of each and every one of his of his thank-yous, Leo hoped he had a pen and paper ready.

Tuning back into the conversation, a sullen look on his face, the turtle realized that the conversation had shifted to his old wound. Apparently, it had been present when Casey had found them.  
Leo glanced at the towel on the floor. He hadn't missed that when he'd awoken.

Thoughtfully, April took a step forward. "Leo? Can you show me _exactly_ where your injury was? As close as you can pinpoint it, anyways."

For a moment, he could do nothing but stare. Part of Leo felt like this was a dream- too good to be true.

Besides, Ardors could shape-shift; he'd learned that the hard way. And April had green eyes.  
However, she was the only person in the room who _did_ have that color of eyes. Slowly, trust growing gradually, the blue-banded turtle nodded, turned, and lifted his hand to the backside of his right shoulder, drawing a basic outline of the bite.

If he couldn't trust this good friend he'd known for so long, he couldn't trust anybody.

Casey Jones had moved forward besides the redhead, both of them watching Leo closely. The man shook his head. "Okay, now that's just too weird."

April nodded in agreement. "Near as I can recall, that's right where we saw it- same size and everything."

Mikey sat on the edge of the bed, playing with his arm as Leo had. "But wait- how is that even possible?" He asked. "I mean, unless we recently developed some sort of healing ability, which would earn no complaints from me, how could that have happened so quick? 'Cause I'm finding that first idea kinda impossible."

"Well," Leatherhead, who stood near the doorway, began, "if you stopped an event that had direct consequences in the future you visited from happening, as Donatello believes, you would have stopped those who dealt out your injuries from ever harming you. However, there is a very high chance that you're doing so would erase the memories from your mind."

Cocking his head, Casey looked utterly confused. Raph grinned at him. "All this thinkin' giving you a headache, Case?"

The human shook his head. "You have no idea."

Donny explained. "It's simple, really. Basically, what LH is saying is that since we stopped the Ardors from coming, we stopped Callis from attempting to send a message, thus the accidental teleporter he made; that sent us to the future. What we remember supposedly never happened."

There was silence for a moment. Then, Mikey leaned forward. "So… why do we?"

Folding her arms, April look at him. "That's the thing we can't explain. We may never know."  
Quietly, Leo watched her, eventually shifting his gaze to Casey, then Leatherhead, then Master Splinter.

They seemed so… hesitant. _And why shouldn't they be?_ Leo thought._ The only evidence we have is a since perfectly healed wound and our word._

His heart sunk a little at that. _Our word- shouldn't that be enough?_

Before he realized he'd opened his mouth, the ninja found himself speaking. "You _do_ believe us, don't you, Sensei?"

Splinter nodded. "Yes, my son. I do." He paused. "Though I may not understand everything involved in this strange occurrence, I _do _know that the mind is far more powerful than we give it credit for."

Casey scratched his head, clearly confused. "Uh, weren't we talkin' about time travel and junk?"  
The rat raised a hairy hand. "Allow me to continue, Mr. Jones. For example, a man's dream does not take place in reality, does it? Yet, he recalls it when he awakens the next morning."

Shaking his head, Raph came forward. "But it wasn't a dream!" He yelled. "It really happened!"

Nodding in understanding, Don looked at their red-clad brother. "I don't think that's what he means, Raph. Just because the Ardors didn't come doesn't mean we don't know what would've happened if we hadn't stopped them- what would've happened to us."

One finger on her chin, April joined Donny in theorizing. "Quantum mechanics." She said. "One situation where these aliens came, another where they didn't."

Mikey shook his head. "My brain hurts."

Smiling for real this time, teeth showing, Leatherhead chuckled. "'Nobody understands quantum theory.'" He quoted.

The only person who didn't share a look of confusion at that statement, besides April and Don, of course, was Leo himself.

The eldest turtle loved to read. Richard Feynman, the man who'd said that, hadn't been kidding. And Leo would only make it worse by adding his thoughts about that theory, few as they were.

Absent-mindedly, he felt along his side, than his legs; fingertips discovering none of the previous wounds. "The important thing is that we're all alive." He voiced aloud, looking at the ground. "_How_ doesn't matter much to me, as long as we're okay."

No one said anything for a while. Finally, Leatherhead cleared his throat. "Well, if you're all fine and healthy, I suppose I should be getting back to my home." The croc bowed his head, then left after they'd said their goodbyes.

Smiling, April put a hand on Casey's shoulder. "We better let you guys rest. You're welcome to stay as long as you need to, but Mike," she said, pointing a finger at him; "I'm gonna have to boot you off the bed."

"But-"

"I'll make you up a place to sleep in the living room." She interrupted, giving him no time to protest. "I have a few sleeping bags, and there's the couch, the cot, and I recently got an air mattress."

Splinter bowed. "You are too kind, Ms. O'Neil."

Grinning again, she pulled Casey into the hall. "Think nothing of it. Now, how about I go get something cooking? You guys look like you haven't eaten in a while." With that, she was off.

Her comment induced a fierce growl from Leo's stomach. He could practically hear three other one's joining it. It made him realize that the last thing they'd actually eaten was that small piece of bread and bacon yesterday morning in Callis' mansion.

Yeah, that had been a while.

With April gone, Splinter turned to them. He sighed. "Am I to understand that this all happened because of an _ice cream_ run?"

If Leo could've turned invisible then, he would've.

He heard Donny moan. "Fifteen minutes. Less than fifteen minutes."

Not sure what his brother was talking about, the blue-clad turtle decided he didn't want to know.  
&&&&&

One more chapter to go! I hope you enjoyed this one!

Please review!


	15. Seatbelt

(trumpets sound) Hooray! Hooray! Hooray for me! I managed to get to a computer to put this up! (claps)

(sinks to the floor) Of course, there _is_ a downside to this. It's late (NOT MY FAULT!) … andI'm back in school. Here's nine more months of grueling 'education'.

At least I have the computers now.

So, here's thanking my reviewers! First, Here's a big thanks to **Jessiy Landroz**, who reviewed every chapter! Further thanks go to: **Lunar-ninja, jaunt, Cynlee, Bioniclefangirl, RealityBreakGirl, Ultra-Geek, greshunkai, LadyKatana45, Reinbeauchaser, Janajyo, Goddess of Idun, Shadowflame611, Chibi Rose Angel, Turtlefreak121, Sakura117us, Zombie Cordelia, Tewi, Basia Lynn, Sassyblondexoxo, RAPHAELFAN02, Anonymous, Lioness-Goddess, engelina, Bareback Jack, RedRebel84, Thalpomene, fanny, Windwalker (A.K.A. A'Tuin), Ted, rose123, Spawn guy, EveryDayPerson, The True Crossover Queen, Aurore Musis Amica, calliopechild, mou, and Sewer Slider! **Also, I thank everyone who reviewed Pulse at the Stealthy Stories Forum.

All right, I better get to writing. So here it is! The very last chapter of Pulse! Enjoy!

Oh. P.S.! Nearly a year has passed since the ending of the last chapter!

Beta read by Janajyo, whom I kindly thank!

Disclaimer: TMNT still don't belong to me. For some reason, people only find it amusing that a girl thinks she can someday gain ownership to Mirage Studios when she has absolutely no connection to it, or experience to run it.

&&&&&

**New York City. September 16, 2007 AD. 4:46 PM.**

Elbow resting against the window of the car door, palm positioned under his chin, Mikey fiddled around with the radio dial using his free hand.

For a while now, the music had been the noise heard audibly in the Battle Shell. At the moment, all of their favorite stations, sharing a poor sense of timing, were on commercial breaks. Sighing, Mike settles for a _McDonald's_ advertisement.

When they'd first arrived with April nearly two hours ago, the mood had actually been decent. Only in the past forty-five minutes or so had it become more somber.

It was a give-in, really. After all, they'd been sitting _right in front_ of a mansion where, in some other future, they'd nearly lost their lives.

A place where, in that alternate future, _hundreds_ of people _had_ passed on- in cruel and perpetual agony.

That was rather hard to forget.

It wasn't like life hadn't moved on for him or his brothers, though. A lot of things had happened in the past ten months. There'd been a few encounters with the Foot, some with Bishop. The third _Spiderman_ movie had been released and a once thought dead villain in Mike's favorite comic book was about to take over the world. April and Casey had been engaged; the four ninjas were nearing their seventeenth birthday.

Still, every once in a while, they remembered. A few things helped it along at times, though.

Especially in the first three months, for brief spasms lasting no longer than ten minutes, one of them would now and then find himself with a familiar injury that was supposed to be gone.

In the first few weeks, for example, on several occasions, Raph would suddenly be walking with a bit of pain in his leg, not to mention a limp.

Don would briefly be overwhelmed with fatigue, his comprehension of what was going on a little more muddled.

Originally, Leo's shoulder would burst into horrible pain. But before the next day of these events had started, becoming far worse, his right arm would, without warning, be completely paralyzed, from shoulder to fingertips.

Simple movements would painfully jar Mikey in the places his own arm had been broken in.

And then, as quickly as it happened, they'd disappear. But it'd only be a mater of time before it happened again.

As the weeks flew by however, the incidents occurred less and less. After the fourth month, though Leo still occasionally loss use of his limb, the only things that were really showing up were scars, said brother's bite mark being the most noticeable.

Each time one came up, they made sure to show it to whoever happened to be around. Though the four of them still remembered what had happened clearly, it was evidence for something that was growing harder to believe.

Their time spent in that hell was something they wanted to forget, after all. It certainly wasn't something Mike wanted to classify under _good_ memories, anyway.

That _had_ been getting easier- to forget the experience. The scars rarely even showed up at all anymore; life _had_ been on a normal track.

But then, a certain mansion had been featured in the news. Completed and in the process of furnishing, its celebrity owner wouldn't be moving in for a week.

Which was why they were here.

This would be the final nail in the coffin. If the scars hadn't been enough proof of their jaunt to that time, their extensive knowledge of the mansion's layout would be. And once the matter was settled, they could put the ordeal to rest.

As best as they could, anyways.

An old friend of April's was the electrician for the mansion and had agreed to give her a small tour of the place, under the premise that the redhead was a big fan of the actor's work. Of course, it probably wouldn't look _exactly_ the same as they recalled it, with remodeling to be done in the future, but the basics were sure to be there.

The turtles had drawn up a map of the mansion and had gone over it with April. It was her job to see if it matched their description.

He hoped they'd be done with this soon. He was tired of seeing a little bear covered in yellow finger-paint and blood in his nightmares every time something about this place came up.

Sighing again, Mike turned the dial once more, curious if the radio had something better to offer this time around.

&&&&&

Annoyed, Raph fought back the urge to throw a sai at the radio. He hated the current song that was playing, but, of course, his youngest brother rather enjoyed it.

It was only because of this that the ninja didn't act. Mike was particularly sensitive about this matter; he certainly didn't look too happy now, that was for sure.

He decided to extend some kindness to the orange-banded turtle in this area by leaving the situation alone. He could take his revenge out on the tuner the _next_ time the song played, which would probably be within the hour.

Raph balanced a sai on the tip of his finger, taking his attention away from everything that was going on. Beyond the steel weapon, he half-mindedly watched Don look at the window in thought while Mikey tapped his fingers along with the hateful melody. From the corner of his eye, he could see Leo stare at the floor, completely stoic.

This was just about how it always was when the thought of Callis' mansion came up. Even the radio, though at home, it was a much larger device. None of them really wanted to talk about it; they all knew how the others felt. It was just some thing that was subliminally conveyed with a look.

He'd always found that so weird- how the oddest things could be shared with them in such a manner. But it wasn't a bad thing, so the turtle didn't mind.

His brothers didn't know about the dreams, though.

Four times, he'd had them. They were very short, and hadn't happened for months now, but he always felt that they connected to the Ardors.

Every time, he was surrounded by trees- dead and burnt. But there were thousands of them, and they provided protection. Once, he'd been running. Two times, he'd been completely still, making out forms in the darkness. The fourth, he'd heard a strange sound, and then the dream had ended.

Raph tried not to let it bug him. And it didn't always.

Only when he thought of the mansion.

Gritting his teeth, Raph vowed to forget about this place forever once they knew it wasn't all just part of their imagination. He hoped that his brothers could do the same.

&&&&&

It was amazing, how entrancing the simple pattern of the floor of the Battle Shell could be, with it's smooth plates and bolts holding it together. Leo couldn't take his eyes off it. And when he wasn't thinking about teeth sinking into his skin, fearing his brothers dead in that place; he was completely lost in how perfectly they came together to perform the job of keeping its occupants from falling to the asphalt.

If only being a leader could be that easy. If only he knew where each metaphorical bolt was to be placed to keep his family out of harms way, Leo could rest assured that they'd all be well.

But life wasn't an armored car that worked so smoothly. It was more like a car _crash_; you never saw the accident coming until it hit you.

You never knew who was going to make it out alive, or in what condition.

But you couldn't live life without staying off the road. It was a risk you had to take, with nothing but a thousand or so pounds of metal, an air bag, and a seat belt to protect you.

And Leo was determined to use all of that to protect his brothers.

While he never shifted his gaze, he was aware of them, each so quiet. The blue-banded turtle had learned at an early age to be silent, so he could listen. However, he didn't like to see his siblings in the same state without a reason for it.

They, himself included, were a rather loud group of teenagers- when they weren't about to be killed. Sure, you were bound to have your depressing moments. Didn't mean Leo had to like them.

He wanted to be more supportive, but he couldn't bring himself to act. The only relief would come when they'd knew they'd been right and that this was over and done with.

Breathing deeply, yet exhaling quietly, Leo began to crave something sweet.

When April came back, he had a good idea to get them back on the right road, seatbelts on, but a drive for the scenery- the simple pleasures of life.

&&&&&

"Jeez!" Raph said impatiently, flipping the sai he'd been balancing around into his hand, grasping the handle. "How long does it take to give a freakin' tour?"

Donny, in the driver's seat of the vehicle, faced him. "I hate to point out the obvious, Raph, but it _is_ a mansion. And we wanted April to get a good look at the place."

The red-clad turtle snorted. "Yeah, whatever."

Seeing his brother wasn't about to say anymore, Don turned his attention back to the front door of the mansion, _and_ to a little train of thought that had been tickling his mind every once in a while.

Craning his neck slightly, he glanced at the back of his calf. As he suspected, the green skin was smooth, not considering the natural roughness of it, of course.

In that spot, ten months ago, an Ardor had sliced his flesh open with its claws. And sometimes, Don would find a scar there.

While that hadn't happened to him, or any of his brothers for that matter, in over a month now, Don still thought about it.

When it had first begun, their larger injuries had been in play. As they came and went, they got a little less painful each time. The wounds got smaller eventually, different with each incident they appeared.

Like they were _healing_.

The purple-clad turtle's theory was that, due to quantum mechanics and their change to the timeline, time was still trying to correct itself.

They were never meant to get out of that time frame. But they had. They were never injured, yet they remembered it vividly.

For, in another reality, they _had_ been injured. And they hadn't made it back to the twentieth century.

Thus, the timeline, in its attempt to bring order to itself, occasionally confused the conditions of the four that made it out with the four that didn't. It was happening less now because things were almost straightened out. If it never happened again, then it already was.

But that still left something to think about. In order for those scars to _heal_, their owner's had to be _alive_.

In that other reality, had they made it out of the mansion alive?

A tap on the car door knocked Don out of his thoughts. Leo, instantly brought out of his fascination with the floor, headed to the end of the Battle Shell, where the sound had come from. Opening it, he helped April in.

Immediately, the four of them were crowding around her, waiting for the news.

The woman shook her head. "It's amazing. You guys had practically _every_ feature nailed. The hallways, the rooms, the measurements of the pool, even some of the tiling- it matched your description perfectly."

Leo nodded. "So we were right."

Raph half-grinned. "Told ya we weren't crazy."

Sighing, April looked at him. "No one ever said you _were_… in this particular situation anyways." She joked, trying to cheer them up.

Of course, that got Mikey going. "Yeah, Raph!" He said. "See, now that they know the Ardors were real, they'll definitely believe you about the purple elephants in tutus and the evil butterflies now!"

Shaking his head as his little brother ran around in the confined space, trying in vain to hide from Raph, Don started the car up and began the trip home.

There was something oddly satisfying about knowing this. Why, Don wasn't really sure. It only confirmed a horrible nightmare, after all. But he assumed it was preferable to discovering that the memories were fakes implanted in their minds by some top secret government facility, for whatever the hell of a reason they might have to do _that_.

The olive-green turtle chuckled softly. _Gotta stop watching those movies with Mikey_.

Having taken Mike's seat, Leo stared out the windshield. He was the only one that still looked serious. But that was just Leo. The guy could make a pink flower look serious.

"Feel better?" The blue-clad ninja asked.

"Yeah." Don responded. "There's just something about knowing."

His elder brother nodded in agreement. "Good. 'Cause I don't want to come back here ever again."

"We won't." Don assured him.

There was silence for a moment, but Leo broke it again. "Turn right." He said suddenly.

"What for?" Raph asked from behind them, letting Michelangelo out of his grip. It was in the opposite direction of where they were heading.

"The _Baskin Robbins_ is on this street." Leo told them, a grin finally showing on his face. "We never did get that ice cream."

&&&&&

Okay, so that wasn't too horrible of an ending, right? I liked it, and it was longer than I thought it'd be, but it just seemed funny to me.

Oh, and before you ask, yes, I am _thinking_ about _maybe_ doing a one-shot rooting off from this story involving the other reality where the guys didn't make it home. No idea when of if I'll ever get it up, but I have an idea.

Anyways, I hope you liked the story! Please review!


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